Field Locoweed from Warren Peak, Wyoming

Of all the plants we collected in 2010 in Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska, Oxytropis campestris seems to be ahead in adapting to the climate in Washington, DC.  One plant actually started blooming last fall, and Chris wrote about it on his 1003 Gardens Blog.  Of course there were no flowers when we collected the seed, and I pegged it as Astragalus agrestis based on the dried up remains of the plant we collected.  When it flowered last fall, I was able to key it out correctly.  The calyces are covered in black hairs that contrast nicely with the creamy yellow flowers.  The foliage is a neat hairy tuft of pinnately compound leaves.

We collected this on the very exposed top of Warren Peak, just north of Sundance, Wyoming.  A lovely spot in northeast Wyoming with very beautiful meadows of a great variety of plants.  We'll have to see how long this persists.  If it does, it may have potential for use in gardens and on green roofs.  We might have to think up a more appetizing common name.  They aren't weeds, and insanity only results from eating it.