Oxytropis lambertii

Oxytropis lambertii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Oxytropis
Species:	O. lambertii
Binomial name
	Oxytropis lambertii; Pursh

Oxytropis lambertii is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by several common names, including purple locoweed, woolly locoweed, and Lambert crazyweed.

Distribution[]

It is native to grasslands in the Canadian Prairie of central Canada and in the mid-west and Great Plains of the United States.^[1]

Description[]

Oxytropis lambertii is a perennial herb producing a patch of basal leaves around the root crown, and several showy erect inflorescences. The leaf is compound with several silvery-green leaflets. The inflorescence produces several flowers, each borne in a tubular purple or pinkish calyx of sepals covered thinly in silver hairs. The pealike flower corolla is reddish or bluish purple with a lighter patch at the base of the banner. The fruit is a cylindrical legume pod.

Toxic[]

The Oxytropis lambertii plant is one of the locoweeds most frequently implicated in livestock poisoning.^[2] The toxin is called swainsonine. Research suggests that the plant itself may not be toxic, but becomes toxic when inhabited by endophytic fungi of the genus , which produce swainsonine.^[3]

References[]

^ USGS. Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands
^ Ralphs, M. H., et al. (2002). Distribution of locoweed toxin swainsonine in populations of Oxytropis lambertii. J Chem Ecol 28:4 701-7.
^ McLain-Romero, J., et al. (2004). The toxicosis of Embellisia fungi from locoweed (Oxytropis lambertii) is similar to locoweed toxicosis in rats. J Anim Sci 82 2169-74.

External links[]

Media related to Oxytropis lambertii at Wikimedia Commons

This Faboideae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] USGS. Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands

[ralphs-2] Ralphs, M. H., et al. (2002). Distribution of locoweed toxin swainsonine in populations of Oxytropis lambertii. J Chem Ecol 28:4 701-7.

[mclain-3] McLain-Romero, J., et al. (2004). The toxicosis of Embellisia fungi from locoweed (Oxytropis lambertii) is similar to locoweed toxicosis in rats. J Anim Sci 82 2169-74.

[1]

[2]

[3]