General: Perennial herb from a taproot and stout, branching stem-base, hairy throughout; tufted or matted, 5-40 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal, odd-pinnately compound, 6-23 cm long; leaflets 17 to 33, linear-oblong to narrowly egg-shaped, 5-25 mm long, appressed silky-hairy on both surfaces; stipules membranous, 5-15 mm long, loosely soft-hairy to nearly glabrous.
Flowers: Inflorescence a spike-like raceme, on a stalk (10) 15-40 cm long, of 10 to 30 pea-like flowers; corollas white or yellowish white, occasionally bluish, 12-17 mm long, calyces appressed long-soft-hairy, often with black hairs.
Fruits: Pods, oblong-egg-shaped, 1-2.5 cm long, papery-membranous, black- and white-hairy, nearly 2-chambered.
Mesic to dry meadows, grassy slopes, sandy or gravelly riverbanks and terraces, and forest openings from the lowland and steppe to alpine zones; locally frequent in SW and SC BC; E to MB and S to CO and WA.
Ecological Framework for Oxytropis campestris var. spicata
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)