Viscid Locoweed (Oxytropis borealis var. viscida)

Viscid Locoweed
Oxytropis borealis var. viscida

Bessey's Crazyweed in Alberta, Canada, July 1998

Hi, kennedyh,
I really enjoy your diverse contributions to these records!

I'm curious as to what area of Alberta you saw this species in (or whether it could possibly be a different species), as it is not noted as being present in Alberta in either Moss & Packer's Flora of Alberta or in the USDA database. The USDA database shows it present in Saskatchewan, though another of my references notes that it occurs very rarely there (and only in the southern part of the province).
Thanks,
altagardener

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=OXBE2


This message was edited Jan 24, 2009 2:24 PM

altagardener, I found this plant while driving along the Icefields Parkway in Alberta. My identification was made using the Flora of the Pacific Northwest, the condensed version. The information on distribution is not very clear, but I can see now that it is not found in Alberta, and I must have misidentified the plant.

I will try and find a correct identification and if not will have to get these images deleted from PlantFiles. Are you able to suggest which Oxytropis species this is likely to be, growing alongside the Icefields Parkway. As I remember, it was near the Banff end of the parkway.

Kennedy

Hi, Kennedy,
According to Moss & Packer, and using the names therein (I'm not sure if all the names are still current), the two possibilities for blue-purple locoweeds occurring along the Icefields Parkway would be O. deflexa and O. viscida. From reading the descriptions, I think it's more likely the latter, e.g. from the way the flowers are held upright in the raceme. (In O. deflexa, the flowers in full bloom become pendulous and commonly secund, and then the seedpods that follow are pendant). So, I'd venture that it's O. viscida. (Edit: The third blue-purple locoweed in the general area is O. podocarpa, but the entire plant is decumbent so I discounted it.)
I could type out the full Moss & Packer descriptions here, or send them to you, if you'd like to be able to study it further.
altagardener

This message was edited Jan 25, 2009 11:31 PM

Thank you for that, I have read up those three species in Croquist and looked at images on the web and I agree it seems unlikely to be either O. deflexa or O. podicarpa, whereas O. viscosa looks a very close match.
Before I finally make up my mind I would greatly appreciate the chance to read those descriptions from Moss & Packer. Have you thought of photographing the relevant pages to save you from typing them?

Ken

Well, I generally prefer to do things the most difficult way possible, but alright, we'll do it your way... (LOL!)

Excerpt from E. H. Moss and J. G. Packer (rev.), Flora of Alberta - Oxytropis deflexa/Reflexed Loco-weed:




This message was edited Jan 26, 2009 8:53 PM

And...
Excerpt from E. H. Moss and J. G. Packer (rev.), Flora of Alberta - Oxytropis viscida/Viscid Loco-weed:

What do you think Ken? We had a report that the plant was Oxytropis viscida. Have you been able to determine for sure what species it is?

I have spend a while considering this one. It is hard to be absolutely certain, but it does seem likely that the two images that I took in Alberta, are of Oxytropis viscida. The image I took in Yellowstone National Park looks different, and perhaps it really is Oxytropis besseyi.Do you know whether it is present in Yellowstone?

I had a look for info on Wyoming Oxytropis and found that Oxytropis nana, which it says is synonymous with Oxytropis besseyi is widespread in Wyoming and Montana, and one of the illustrations on this page: http://montana.plant-life.org/species/oxytro_nan.htm looks very close to my image, so perhaps the Yellowstone plant really is O. besseyi

I am happy for my two Alberta images to be transferred to O. viscida, but there is currently no entry for that species,

Ken

It appears to me that both species occur in Yellowstone National Park.

The United States Department of Agriculture has O. besseyi as occuring in Montana and Wyoming. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=OXBE2

Oxytropis viscida is a synonym of Oxytropis borealis var. viscida, it just wasn't added to the entry. I added it now. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/156723/

Here's the USDA page for it: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=OXBOV

Oxytropis nana appears in Wyoming, but not Montana. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=OXNA

I don't know if this narrows it down or not.

Forgot to add the link to the USDA listing of all of the Oxytropis species. If you click on one that's a link, it will take you to the distribution map. Then if you click on the state that's in green it will give you the counties that the species occurs in. http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Oxytropis&mode=sciname&submit.x=12&submit.y=8


This message was edited Feb 15, 2009 11:51 PM

Here's some of the species with photos. If you click on the photo it links you back to the USDA distribution map. This might help narrow it down to what species it could be. Process of elimination. :) http://plants.usda.gov/java/imageGallery?growthhabit=all&familycategory=all&artist=all&location=all&cite=all&duration=all&stateSelect=all&category=sciname&imagetype=all&origin=all&txtparm=Oxytropis&wetland=all©right=all&viewsort=100&sort=sciname&submit.x=17&submit.y=13
But there doesn't appear to be a photo of Oxytropis borealis var. viscida, unless I'm too tired to see it.

Ken, you noted above that you would be happy to have your photos moved to the Oxytropis viscida entry, and I have done so today. If you disagree, please let me know.

Joan, thankyou for moving the images, I feel sure that they are now correctly placed.

I have considered all the other information and I remain of the opinion that the image I took in Yellowstine National Park is correctly placed as Isotropis besseyi. It certainly fits well with the distribution,

Ken