Astragalus atropilosulus (Hochst.) Bunge

First published in Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint Pétersbourg, Sér. 7, 15(1): 4 (1869)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Eritrea to S. Africa, SW. Arabian Peninsula. It is a perennial or subshrub and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit
A perennial, or perhaps sometimes biennial, herb.
Morphology Stem
Stems cylindrical with many faint ribs, usually glabrous or nearly so.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves up to 25 cm. long, with 11–51 leaflets; stipules large, leaf-like, broadly triangular-ovate, acute with entire margins, free from the petiole; rhachis usually nearly glabrous, sometimes pubescent, always with a few hairs on and at the base of the petiolules; leaflets opposite or subopposite, narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, obtuse, up to 3 cm. long and 14 mm. wide, usually glabrous above, always with a few hairs on the midrib and margins beneath, sometimes pubescent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes many-flowered, pedunculate, the rhachis nearly glabrous or pubescent, sometimes with blackish hairs; bracts whitish, linear, 1–2 mm. long; bracteoles absent; pedicels white, brown or blackish pubescent, 2–3 mm. long, reflexed after flowering.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx rather persistent, glabrous or with appressed white, brown or blackish hairs, oblique, the tube 1·5 mm., the upper teeth triangular, 0·5 mm., the lower teeth lanceolate, 1–2 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla purplish, white or yellow, 8–13 mm. long, the standard and wings somewhat exceeding the keel or about the same length.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Filaments
Filaments whitish, rather persistent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary stipitate, almost completely divided lengthwise, with 3–8 ovules on each side, shortly black pilose or more often glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod lanceolate, somewhat curved, up to 4 cm. long (including the stipe) and up to 7 mm. wide, glabrous or, less often, shortly brown strigulose, conspicuously veined, the lower but not the upper suture impressed, usually rather papery, usually splitting lengthwise into 2 halves at maturity.
Distribution
K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 T1 T2 T4 T7 U1 U2 U3 U4 Yemen and eastern Africa from the Somali Republic (N.) south to the Transvaal
[FTEA]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Afromontane grassland, Lake Victoria regional transition zone; grasslands, Somalia-Masai grasslands, Zambezian grassland
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Herb
[ILDIS]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • International Legume Database and Information Service

    • International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0