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Hedysarum boreale var. boreale (Northern Chainpod, Utah Sweetvetch)
Fabaceae (Pea Family) Semi-deserts, foothills. Openings, canyons,
shrublands. Spring, summer. |
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Hedysarum boreale var. boreale (Northern Chainpod, Utah Sweetvetch) Fabaceae (Pea Family) Semi-deserts, foothills. Openings, canyons,
shrublands, woodlands. Spring, summer. This species of Hedysarum is typically found at lower elevations than the species shown below. Both are quite showy and can be noticed from quite a distance as you approach them on the trail. H. boreale is typically 10-20 inches tall and wide; H. occidentalis is twice these dimensions and shrub-like. Thomas Nuttall named this species in 1818 from a collection he made "around Fort Mandan, on the banks of the Missouri", probably in late June, 1811.
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Hedysarum boreale var. boreale (Northern Chainpod, Utah Sweetvetch) Semi-deserts, foothills. Openings, canyons, shrublands, woodlands. Spring, summer. Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, May 19 and 31, 2010.
The lobes of the calyx are green, narrow, of nearly equal length, and longer than the calyx tube. See especially the flowers in the upper left of the first photo at left.
The upright banner petal is notched, the two wing petals are much shorter than the keel, and the keel has a sharp right angle bend in it -- much like the bow of a canoe. See especially the lowest flowers on the right and left in the middle photograph at left.
In the final photograph at left some flowers are fresh, some fading, and some have completely dropped and now attention is drawn to the chain of seed pods.
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Hedysarum boreale var. boreale (Northern Chainpod, Utah Sweetvetch) Semi-deserts, foothills. Openings, canyons,
shrublands, woodlands. Spring, summer. Hedysarum's basket structure and pendent chain of seed pods is distinctive.
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Hedysarum
occidentale var. occidentale (Western Chainpod, Western Sweetvetch) Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, meadows. Summer. This intensely pink-purple Pea is characterized by widely spaced leaflets, segmented pendulous seed pods,
upper sepals shorter than lower ones, and leafless flower stems. In its high montane habitat, Hedysarum occidentale is typically a robust shrub over several feet tall and wide. Hedysarum occidentale is very similar to H. boreale (usually found at lower elevations) and is distinguished first and foremost by its much larger size and then by minute characteristics, such as, the markings on loments (the seed pods), the size of the calyx lobes, and the leaf venation. Linnaeus named this genus in 1753. "Hedysarum" is, according to William Weber, a name given thousands of years ago by Theophrastus to some member of the Pea Family and "boreale" is Greek for "northern". Charles Piper collected Hedysarum occidentale in 1890 and Edward Greene named and described the plant in 1896. |
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Hedysarum occidentale var. occidentale (Western Chainpod, Western Sweetvetch) Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, meadows. Summer. The teeth of the calyx are stubby, of unequal length, and usually shorter than the calyx tube. Flowers are hot pink; albiflora (white flower) forms of the species are rare. |
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Hedysarum occidentale var. occidentale (Western Chainpod, Western Sweetvetch) Fabaceae (Pea Family) Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, meadows. Summer. |
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Hedysarum occidentale var. occidentale (Western Chainpod, Western Sweetvetch) Fabaceae (Pea Family) Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, meadows. Summer. Myriads of flowers are followed by myriads of cute seed chains.
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Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
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Range map for Hedysarum boreale
Range map for Hedysarum occidentale |
Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state
Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Eradicated
Questionable presence
