Cream Milkvetch

Tium brevisetum (M. E. Jones) Rydberg, sp. now
Astragalus racemosus brevisetus M. E. Jones, Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 5: 662. 1895.
A tall perennial; stem stout, 5 dm. high or more, striate, strigulose, flexuose above; leaves ascending, 1-1.5 dm. long, the rachis strigose, sulcate; stipules broadly deltoid, 4 mm. long; leaflets 31-41, oblong, 1-2.5 cm. long, thick, 3-5 mm. wide, glabrate above, rather densely strigulose beneath, obtuse to slightly retuse at the base; peduncles 5-8 cm. long, erect, sulcate; bracts subulate, 4-5 mm. long; pedicels 2 mm. long; calyx strigose, the tube oblique, gibbous on the upper side, about 5 mm. long, the upper two teeth lance-subulate, 1.5 mm. long, the lower three subulate, the lowest one 2 mm. long; corolla white, tinged and veined with purple, about 18 mm. long; banner obovate, slightly notched; wings shorter, the blade falcate, oblanceolate; keel-petals still shorter, the blade broadly lunate, rounded and purplish at the apex; pod glabrous; stipe about 5 mm. long, the body linear, acute at each end, 2-2.5 cm. long, 3 mm. wide and thick, cross-reticulate; upper suture sharp, the lower deeply sulcate; crosssection triangular, inversely V-shaped, many-seeded.
Type locality: Ramos, Zacatecas. Distribution: Known only from the type locality.

Tium racemosum (Pursh) Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 32: 659. 1906.
Astragalus racemosus Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 740. 1814.
Astragalus galegoides Nutt. Gen. 2: 100. 1818.
Tragacantha racemosa Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 947. 1891.
Astragalus racemosus brevisetus M. E. Jones. Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 5: 662, in part. 1895.
Astragalus racemosus longiselus M. E. Jones, Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 5: 663. 1895.
A perennial, with a stout root and cespitose caudex; stems 4-10 dm. high, sulcate, flexuose, more or less strigose; leaves 7-15 cm. long, ascending, the rachis strigose; stipules lanceolate or deltoid, acuminate, connate, 5-8 mm. long; leaflets 17-33, oblong or linear-oblong, 1-2.5 cm. long, 3-S mm. wide, glabrous above, strigose-canescent beneath, obtuse to rounded at the apex; peduncles 5-10 cm. long, sulcate, strigose; racemes 4—10 cm. long; bracts subulate, 3—7 mm. long; flowers nodding; pedicels 4—5 mm. long; calyx white-strigose, the tube 4—5 mm. long, 3 mm. broad, the teeth subulate, 2-4 mm. long; corolla white or pinkish, the keel purplish; banner 15-16 mm. long, oblanceolate, slightly arched at the middle; wings slightly shorter, the blade oblanceolate, as long as the claw, slightly falcate, with a large basal auricle; keel-petals a little shorter, the blades obliquely oblanceolate, abruptly arched near the obtuse apex, with a long reflexed auricle; pod glabrous, stipitate, the stipe 4-5 mm. long, the body linear, tapering at each end, 2-2.5 cm. long, 4-5 mm. wide and 4 mm. thick, the upper suture acute, the lower deeply sulcate, the cross-section triangular, the septum very narrow; seeds brown, obliquely reniform, 3 mm. long.
Type locality: "Upper Louisiana" [now South Dakota]. Distribution: North Dakota to Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tal l, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules membranous or chartaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Stipules connate to each other, forming a tuber or sheath, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets alternate or subopposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals white, Petals ochroleucous, cream colored, Banner petal narrow or oblanceolate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens diadelphous, 9 united, 1 free, Filam ents glabrous, Style terete, Style persistent in fruit, Fruit a legume, Fruit stipitate, Fruit unilocular, Fruit tardily or weakly dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit or valves persistent on stem, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit beaked, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 11-many seeded, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Astragalus racemosus, the cream milkvetch, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to central North America. A selenium hyperaccumulator, it is considered capable of poisoning livestock as one of the locoweeds.