General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and branching stem-base; stems prostrate, tufted or mat-forming, 5-10 cm long, greyish-woolly with unbranched hairs.

Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound, crowded, 2-15 cm long, white-woolly; leaflets 5 to 19, elliptic or oval to oblong, 5-20 mm long; stipules membranous, lanceolate, long-pointed, 3-15 mm long, usually exceeding the internodes, not joined at the base.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a short, axillary raceme of 2 to 10 pea-like flowers, the raceme-stalks from shorter to longer than the leaves, sometimes almost lacking, arching or lying on the ground in fruit; corollas yellowish-white to reddish-purple, 1-3 cm long, the banner longer than the wings and the blunt keel; calyces cylindric, 12-16 mm long, black- to grey-hairy, the narrowly lanceolate teeth 1/3-1/2 as long as the tube.

Fruits:
Pods, egg-shaped or narrowly ellipsoid, spreading, unstalked, 1-2.5 cm long, leathery, greyish-woolly, somewhat flattened, straight to curved, 1-chambered.

Notes:
Two intergrading varieties of this highly variable species are recognized in BC.

1. Flowers yellowish-white or pale lavender, the keels purple-tipped; pods nearly straight.................. var. purshii

1. Flowers reddish-purple; pods curved and strongly grooved............... var. glareosus (Dougl. ex Hook.) Barn.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Astragalus glareosus Douglas ex Hook.
Astragalus ventosus Suksd. ex Rydb.