AN ILLUSTRATED KEY TO THE FABACEAE OF ALBERTA Compiled and written by Linda Kershaw & Lorna Allen January 2020 © Linda J. Kershaw & Lorna Allen This key was compiled using information primarily from Moss (1983), Douglas et. al. 1999, Gleason and Cronquist 1991, and Lesica 2012. Taxonomy follows VASCAN (Brouillet, 2019). The main references are listed at the end of the key. The 2018 S-ranks of rare species (S1; S1S2; S2; S2S3; SH; SU, according to ACIMS, 2015) are noted in superscript (S1;S2;SU) after the species names. For more details go to the ACIMS web site. Similarly, exotic species are followed by a superscript X, XX if noxious and XXX if prohibited noxious (X; XX; XXX) according to the Alberta Weed Control Act (2016). FABACEAE Legume Family Key to Genera 1a 01a Shrubs, 1-4 m tall, usually spiny; leaves even- pinnate, with 4-6 pairs of leaflets; flowers bright yellow, 15-23 mm long, on long, slender stalks, single or in clusters . Caragana arborescens X 01b Herbs; leaves and flowers not as above . 02 02a Leaves with thread-like, twining appendages (tendrils); plants climbing or in tangled masses . 03 02b Leaves without tendrils; plants not climbing 06 03a Stipules leafy (→), usually larger than the leaflets; leaflets 4 or 6; styles folded lengthwise and hairy on the sides; stems not winged . 3a . Pisum sativum → 03b Stipules leafy or scale-like, not larger than the leaflets; leaflets 2-30; styles not folded lengthwise, hairy at the tip or on the sides; stems angled or winged . 04 4a 04a Plants annual, exotic, rare crop/garden escapes, in disturbed areas; flowers white to pale blue, often with blue veins on the upper petal (banner), ±6 mm long, 1-3/cluster; pods 10-14 mm long, with 1-2 lens-shaped seeds . Lens culinaris 04b Plants perennial, mostly native, relatively 5a common and widespread, in various habitats; → flowers reddish or bluish purple, purple or yellowish white, >1 cm long, (2)5-20/cluster; pods 15-40 mm long, mostly with >2 seeds . 05 05a Styles flattened, hairy on the upper side →)( ; → leaflets 6-10(16) (excluding stipules), 2.5-6 cm long, mostly egg-shaped to elliptic (narrower in Lathyrus palustris) . Lathyrus 05b Styles thread-like, hairy at the tip (→); leaflets 5b (8)10-22, 1-3 cm long, linear to elliptic . Vicia 06a Fruits jointed pods (loments), narrowed between seeds and breaking into segments; keels squared or pointed at the tip . 07 06b Fruits unjointed, 2-sided pods (legumes); 7a keels not squared at the tip . .08 07a Flowers in elongated clusters (racemes); keels ending abruptly (as if cut off); pods flattened, 3-8 mm wide, hanging . Hedysarum 07b Flowers in loose, umbrella-shaped heads; keels sharp pointed; pods 4-sided, linear, <3 mm wide, erect to ascending . .. X 7b . Securigera varia . [Coronilla varia] 3 9b 08a Leaves dotted with sunken glands . 09 08b Leaves not dotted with glands . 12 9a 09a Leaflets pinnately arranged . 10 09b Leaflets radiating from the base/palmately arranged . 11 10a 10a Leaflets 11-19, 20-40 mm long; flowers pea- like, strongly bilaterally symmetric, yellowish white, ±12 mm long, in elongated clusters (racemes); stamens 10, covered by the petals; pods prickly, bur-like, 10-20 mm long, with 2-5 seeds . Glycyrrhiza lepidota 10b Leaflets 3-9, 5-20 mm long; flowers almost radially symmetric, with 5 similar, slender- stalked petals, purple, rose-purple or white, 2-7 mm long, in dense, cylindrical spikes, opening first at the bottom of the spike; stamens 5, projecting beyond the petals; pods not prickly, 3-4 mm long, with 1-2 seeds . Dalea [Petalostemon] 10b 11a Sepals 1-2 mm long; pods glandular; leaflets lance-shaped, widest towards the tip, ≤5 mm wide . Ladeania lanceolata [Psoralidium lanceolatum; Psoralea lanceolata] 11b 11b Sepals >2 mm long (at least in fruit); pods not glandular; leaflets elliptic to oval, widest near the middle, >10mm wide . Pediomelum . [Psoralea, in part] 11a 12a Leaflets (1)3 . 13 12b Leaflets >3 . 20 15a 13a Leaflets finely toothed . 14 13b Leaflets smooth-edged . 19 14a Flowers in elongated clusters (racemes) . .15 14b Flowers in compact, spherical to oblong heads . 16 15a Flowers yellow or white, 4-6 mm long, in stalked, slender, ±1 x 5-10 cm clusters; plants annual or biennial, 50-250 cm tall; common, widespread weeds . Melilotus 15b Flowers pink to blue, 10-20 mm long, paired, 15b in dense, showy clusters at stem tips; plants perennial, ± woody at the base, 50-100 cm tall; a rare roadside weed . Ononis spinosa ssp. hircina X . [Ononis arvensis] 16a Petals and sepals persistent in fruit; pods papery, beakless, enclosed in the calyx; tip leaflet ± stalkless . Trifolium 16b Flowers and pods not as above; tip leaflet 16a stalked . 17 17a Pods strongly curved to spirally coiled . 17a . Medicago (in part) 17b Pods ± straight to sicle-shaped . 18 4 18a Pods egg-shaped, with a slender beak longer X 18b than the body . Trigonella caerulea 18b Pods oblong-linear, slightly curved/sicle- shaped to ± straight, short-beaked . Medicago (in part) 19a Plants 10-40 cm tall, with well-developed stems; flowers golden yellow; pods long, narrow, curved, 30-70 mm long . 18a . Thermopsis rhombifolia 19b Plants 2-8 cm tall, tufted or cushion-like, with short or no stems; flowers bluish purple or yellowish white; pods egg-shaped, 3-10 mm long . Astragalus (in part) 20a Leaflets radiating from the base (palmate) . 19a . Lupinus 20b Leaflets pinnate . 21 19b 21a Leaflets alternate, the tip leaflet usually distinctly larger (the first leaves sometimes simple/undivided); flowers yellow, 15 mm long, 21a in head-like clusters with 3- to 4-lobed bracts at the base; capsules hairy, 1 cm long . Anthyllis vulneraria X 21b Leaflets paired (opposite) or radiating from the base, mostly similar in size; flowers and capsules not as above . 22 22a Flower clusters umbrella-shaped (umbels); flowers yellow; leaflets 5, pinnately arranged, with the lowest pair attached at the base of the 20a stalk (resembling stipules) . Lotus corniculatus X 22b Flower clusters elongated (racemes); leaves not as above . 23 23a Calyx lobes awl-shaped, longer than the tube; pods 1-seeded, flattened, 5-7 mm long and almost as wide, with veins and short spines; flowers pinkish to red or purple . Onobrychis viciifolia X 23b Calyx lobes and pods not as above; flower variously colored . 24 23a 22a 24a Flowering stems ± leafless; keels sharp- pointed (→) . Oxytropis 24b Flowering stems mostly leafy; keels round- or blunt-tipped (→) . Astragalus 24b → → 24a 5 ASTRAGALUS Milkvetch 01a Leaflets needle-like, 1 x 7-12 mm, distinctly spine-tipped, (3)5-9/leaf; flowers in clusters of 1-3(4), in leaf axils (often paired), sAB . 1a . Astragalus kentrophyta S2 01b Leaflets not needle-like; leaves, leaflets and flowers various, leaflets not spine-tipped (sometimes sharply pointed) . .02 02a Leaflets narrow, linear, curving forward toward the leaf axis (incurved), ±2 mm x 15-70 mm, with edges usually down-rolled; flowers yellowish white, (16)21-24(27) mm long . .. 2a . Astragalus pectinatus 02b Leaflets egg-shaped to oval, >2 x 10-40 mm, with flat or folded (not rolled) edges; flowers yellowish or purple, mostly <15 mm long . .03 03a Plants low, ≤10 cm tall; densely tufted or cushion-shaped, with many, crowded leaves; stems 0-10 cm long, mostly unbranched and leafless; flower clusters often shorter than the 4a leaves or barely longer; dry grassland sites in sAB . 04 03b Plants >10 cm tall, not densely tufted; stems ≥10 cm long, erect to sprawling, often branched and leafy; flower clusters usually exceeding the leaves; various habitats . 07 04a Leaves with 3 leaflets radiating from the centre (palmate); flowers short-stalked, borne among the leaves on the crown of the plant . Astragalus gilviflorus 04b Leaves with 1 (rarely 3) or (3)5-15(21) pinnate leaflets; flowers with ± well developed stalks 05 5a 05a Leaves simple (sometimes with 2 linear leaflets), 1-4(10) cm long, linear to lance- shaped and widest towards the tip; flowers purple (rarely yellowish or whitish), 5.7-9.5 mm long; pods erect, 4-13 x 1 .5-3 .3 mm, hairless or with stiff, flat-lying hairs . Astragalus spatulatus 05b Leaves with (3)5-15(21) leaflets; flowers yellow, pale lavender to white, usually >7 mm 6a long; pods ascending or spreading, 12-37 x 5-9.5 mm, hairy to densely shaggy-hairy . .06 06a Plants greyish woolly with unbranched hairs; flowers 19-25(27) mm long, with a dark-tipped 6b keel; calyx lobes 1/4-1/2 as long as the tube; pods densely shaggy-hairy with white hairs (2)2 .5-4(5) mm long . Astragalus purshii 06b Plants silvery with stalkless, parallel, 2-forked → (malpighian) hairs (→); flowers (4)7-14 mm long, without a dark-tipped keel; calyx lobes narrowly lance-shaped, ≈ the tube; pods straw-coloured to purplish brown, often hairy, → but not densely so . Astragalus lotiflorus 6 07a Stem mostly 5-10 mm thick at the base; leaflets (1)2-4(6) cm long . 08 07b Stems mostly <5 mm thick at the base; leaflets <2 cm long . 11 08a Flower/fruiting clusters loose, open, often 1-sided; pods black- or black and white-hairy; flowers whitish to pale purple, 6-11.5 mm long; keels sometimes strongly 2-colored (purple- tipped) . Astragalus robbinsii 8a 08b Flower/fruiting clusters dense, spike-like (often elongating in fruit), not 1-sided; pods hairless (sometimes with a few stiff straight hairs); flowers white, yellowish or red-purple, 12-17 .5 mm long; keels not strongly 2-coloreded . 09 → 09a Flowers spreading to bent sharply back/down with age, reddish purple (rarely white); stems → often reddish; pods with two deep grooves (→) on the upper side, on 2-4 mm stalks, bent sharply back/down .