Hedysarum boreale Nutt.
northern hedysarum (northern sweet-vetch; Utah sweetvetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
northern hedysarum (northern sweet-vetch; Utah sweetvetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information click to expand contents
General:
Perennial herb from a branched, woody stem-base and thick, fibrous taproot; stems decumbent to ascending, 10-60 cm long/tall, sometimes branched above, greyish stiff-hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, odd-pinnate, hairy on both sides to glabrous on the upper surface, minutely gland-dotted above, 3-12 cm long on short stalks; leaflets 9 to 15, oblong to lance-elliptic, thick and firm with lateral veins usually not evident, 10-40 mm long, 3-14 mm wide, abruptly sharp-pointed at the tip; stipules straw-coloured, leathery, distinct or shortly joined below, 5-10 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an axillary raceme of 5 to 50 pea-like, erect or spreading flowers, the racemes at first compact but soon elongating, 2-15 cm long on curved, arching stalks; corollas pink to reddish-purple,10-22 mm long, the wing-lobes broad and much shorter than the claw; calyces bell-shaped, stiff-hairy, the tube 2-3 mm long, the teeth slender, nearly equal, 2.5-5 mm long.
Fruits:
Pods, constricted between the seeds into (1) 2 to 6 segments, the segments oval or circular, 5-8 mm long, 4-7 mm wide, hairy, corrugated with ladder-like ridges, not wing-margined.
Notes:
Two intergrading subspecies are recognized in BC.
1. Flowers 10-19 mm long, pink to reddish-purple; racemes open, 8-23 cm long................... ssp. Boreale
1. Flowers 15-22 mm long, usually deep reddish-purple; racemes compact, 2-10 cm long................... ssp. mackenzii (Richards.) Welsh
USDA Species Characteristics click to expand contents
Flower Colour:
Red
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology click to expand contents
Ecological Framework for Hedysarum boreale
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) |
1150 | 450 | 2280 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
22 | 0 | 95 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
211 | 10 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
124 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SWB | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BAFA(5), BG(5), BWBS(31), ESSF(6), ICH(2), IDF(19), MS(1), SBS(1), SWB(38) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range click to expand contents
Mesic to dry gravel bars, river terraces, rocky slopes and roadsides from the montane to lower alpine zones; ssp. mackenzii - common in N BC and infrequent in S BC, in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, ssp. boreale - infrequent in SE BC; ssp. mackenzii - amphiberingian, N to AK, YT and NT, E to N PQ and S to OR; NE Asia, ssp. boreale - S to ND, OK, AZ, NM, and NV.
Synonyms click to expand contents
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Hedysarum boreale var. gremiale (Rollins) Northstrom & S.L. Welsh
Hedysarum gremiale Rollins