About Oxytropis lambertii Pursh
Oxytropis lambertii is a perennial herb that grows a cluster of basal leaves around its root crown, and produces several showy, erect inflorescences. Its leaves are compound, with multiple silvery-green leaflets. Each inflorescence holds several flowers; every individual flower sits in a tubular purple or pinkish calyx of sepals covered thinly with silver hairs. The pealike flower corolla is reddish or bluish purple, with a lighter patch at the base of the banner. This species produces a cylindrical legume pod as its fruit. It is native to grassland habitats, found in the Canadian Prairies of central Canada, as well as the mid-west and Great Plains of the United States, ranging from Texas to Manitoba, and west to Arizona and Montana. Oxytropis lambertii is one of the locoweeds most commonly linked to livestock poisoning. The toxin responsible for poisoning is swainsonine. Current research suggests that the plant itself may not be inherently toxic; it becomes toxic when colonized by endophytic fungi of the genus Embellisia, which produce the toxin swainsonine.
