Oxytropis campestris (Early Yellow Locoweed) - photos and description
Flower with pointed keel
Origin: Native.
General: Plants tufted, usually with multiple scapes arising from the caudex. Plant is silky hairy, giving the leaves a greyish green appearance.
Flowers: Flowers quite showy, pale yellow, in a dense spike, spike to 5 cm in length. Scapes leafless. Length of keel (from scape to tip of keel) was measured at 18 mm. The flower keel has a sharp point, the point is 1 mm long. Flowers fragrant.
Leaves: Leaves are all basal, pinnate, we counted up to 15 leaflets, leaflets oblong to elliptical and silky hairy. We measured a leaf blade at 6 cm long by 2 cm wide, and a leaflet at 12 mm long by 4 mm wide.
Height: Height is listed in Budd's Flora to 40 cm, we measured scapes to 25 cm tall.
Habitat: Prairie and dry hillsides
Abundance: Common.
Synonym: Listed in some of the field guides we use
as Oxytropis sericea.
Confusingly, what is now called Oxytropis monticola (Late
Yellow Locoweed) used to be listed as Oxytropis campestris, and
what is now called Oxytropis campestris (the plant described on
the webpage you're viewing - Early Yellow Locoweed), was listed as
Oxytropis sericea.
Similar species: Could be mistaken for another Locoweed - Oxytropis monticola, both have pale yellow flowers. However, the flower spike of that plant is from 5 to 20 cm in length, while the flower spike for O. campestris it is only 4 to 5 cm in length (Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants).
When and where photographed: We took the above photos May 13th in the Qu'Appelle river valley 35 km north of Regina, SK, May 14th prairie hill 100 km south of Regina, SK, May 19th slopes of the western Qu'Appelle Valley about 100 km west of Regina, SK, and May 25th slopes of he Qu'Appelle Valley about 80 km west of our home in Regina, SK.