Hedysarum alpinum L.
alpine hedysarum (alpine sweetvetch; alpine sweet-vetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
alpine hedysarum (alpine sweetvetch; alpine sweet-vetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a brown, scaly stem-base and large, fleshy or woody, sometimes rhizome-like taproot; stems usually several, erect or decumbent-ascending, 10-90 cm tall, often branched above, short-stiff-hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, odd-pinnate, fresh green, hairless but minutely gland-dotted on upper surface, 4-16 cm long on short stalks; leaflets 9 to 23, lanceolate to lance-elliptic, abruptly sharp-pointed at the tip, 10-50 mm long, 3-15 mm wide, with prominent lateral veins; stipules conspicuous, brown, joined below, 5-25 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an axillary raceme of several to many pea-like, nodding flowers, the racemes often one-sided, often long and narrow but sometimes compact, 2-18 cm long, on straight stalks; corollas pink to pinkish-purple, 10-20 mm long, the wing-lobes linear, nearly equal to the claw; calyces bell-shaped, hairy, the tube 1.5-2.5 mm long, the teeth triangular, the upper pair of teeth shorter and wider than the lower three.
Fruits:
Pods, constricted between the seeds into (1) 2 to 5 segments, the segments oval, 5-9 mm long, 3-7 mm wide, mostly glabrous, net-veined, narrowly wing-margined.
Notes:
Some taxonomists have recognized populations with smaller stature and larger flowers as H. hedysaroides (L.) Schinz & Thell., an Eurasian species. These plants, however, appear to be merely a phase of the variable H. alpinum complex. They may be recognized as H. alpinum var. grandiflorum Rollins, if a name is required.
Illustration
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
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Early Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Hedysarum alpinum
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)
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)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1190 | 97 | 2635 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
16 | 0 | 78 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
241 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
173 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BWBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BAFA(10), BWBS(69), ESSF(29), IDF(1), IMA(2), SBS(4), SWB(43) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic gravel bars, streambanks, lakeshores, meadows, alpine heath and tundra, rocky slopes, and open forests in the montane to alpine zones; common in N BC, rare southward in BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; amphiberingian, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, UT, SD and WY; NE Asia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Hedysarum alpinum subsp. americanum (Michx.) Fedtsch.
Hedysarum alpinum subsp. grandiflorum
Hedysarum alpinum var. alpinum L.
Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum Michx.
Hedysarum alpinum var. grandiflorum Rollins
Hedysarum alpinum var. philoscia (A. Nels.) Rollins
Hedysarum americanum (Michx.) Britton
Hedysarum caucasicum M. Bieb.
Hedysarum hedysaroides auct. non (L.) Schinz & Thell.
Hedysarum philoscia A. Nels.
Hedysarum sibiricum Poir.
Hedysarum truncatum Eastw.