Acaulescent. Herbage appressed-villous. Leaflets 7 to 29, lanceolate, 3–23 mm long. Stipules membranous, adnate to the petiole, villous. Inflorescence of 3 to 40 flowers, 4–40 cm long including the peduncle. Flowers white to ochroleucous; calyx white-villous to black-strigose; sepals lanceolate, 1–3 mm long; banner 10–20 mm long. Legume erect, sessile, 1–2 cm long, white- and/or black-pilose; walls up to 0.5 mm thick, papery when dry (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Montana plants are varieties
columbiana (H. St. John) Barneby, var.
cusickii (Greenm.) Barneby, and var.
spicata Hook.
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus appositus,
Bombus bifarius,
Bombus centralis,
Bombus fervidus,
Bombus flavifrons,
Bombus melanopygus,
Bombus nevadensis,
Bombus rufocinctus,
Bombus sylvicola,
Bombus occidentalis,
Bombus insularis, and
Bombus kirbiellus (Macior 1974, Bauer 1983, Shaw and Taylor 1986, Williams et al. 2014, Miller-Struttmann and Galen 2014).