Relatives

Hedysarum austrosibiricum B.Fedtsch. - South Siberian Sweetvetch.

Taxonomic position.

Family Fabaceae Lindl., genus Hedysarum L.

Synonyms.

H. hedysaroides (L.) Schinz et Thell. subsp. austrosibiricum (B.Fedtsch.) Jurtzev

Morphology and biology.

Perennial herbaceous plant. Root thickened, growing deep in soil. There are several suberect stems arising upwards from root collar, the stems 20-40 cm tall, glabrous or sometimes rather densely adpressedly pubescent. Stipules fused at stem base. Leaflets 4-9 pairs, oblong-elliptic, 1.5-2.5 cm long, 0.7-1.0 cm wide, above glabrous, beneath scarcely pubescent at midrib and margins. Flowers lilac, violet-lilac, 15-30 flowers in dense racemes 3-7 cm long, elongating at fruits up to 10-15 cm. Bracts lanceolate, yellow-brown, nearly reaching calyx teeth. Calyx 4-6 mm long, glabrous, sometimes pubescent, shortly campanulate. Its teeth lanceolate, subequal to tube. Ovary glabrous. Pod segments 3-6, reticular, orbicular-oval or oblong, with broad border at margin, glabrous; sometimes constrictions between segments do not develop, then 2 or 3 segments fuse into one elongate segment. Cross-pollinated entomophilous plant. Flowers and fruits in June - July. 2n=14.

Distribution.

Endemic to mountains of the southern Siberia and Altai.

Ecology.

In high montane zone in forest meadows, alpine and subalpine meadows, tundra, on debris-lichen goltsy (montane tundras).

Use and economic value.

Good forage plant for deer, sheep and horses. Roots contain many tannids. May be of interest for cultivation as a silage plant.

References:

Pavlov NV., ed. 1961. Flora of Kazakhstan. V.2. Alma-Ata. 515 p. (In Russian).
Polozhij AV., Malyshev LI., eds. 1994. Flora of Siberia. V.9. Fabaceae (Leguminosae). Novosibirsk: Nauka. 280 p. (In Russian).
Shishkin BK., Bobrov EG., eds. 1948. Flora URSS. V.13. P.259-319. (In Russian).
Malyshev LI., Peshkova GA., eds. 1979. Flora of the Central Siberia. V.2. 506 p. (In Russian).
Kamelin RV., Kovalevskaya SS., Nabiev MM., eds. 1981. Manual of plants of Middle Asia. V.6. Tashkent. 395 p. (In Russian).
Roskov YR. et al. 2005. ILDIS World Database of Legumes. [Online] Available at: http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb?sciname=Hedysarum%20austrosibiricum .

© N.I.Dzyubenko, E.A.Dzyubenko