About Oxytropis podocarpa A.Gray
Oxytropis podocarpa A.Gray is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, with common names including stalkpod locoweed, stalked-pod crazyweed, and Gray's point-vetch. It is native to North America, found across northern latitudes from Yukon and British Columbia through the low arctic region to northern Quebec and Labrador. In the Rocky Mountains, it grows at higher elevations as far south as Colorado. This is a matted, cushion-forming perennial herb with erect or prostrate stems that are only a few centimeters long. Its leaves reach up to 5 centimeters in length, and each leaf is divided into several leaflets. The above-ground plant tissue is covered in silvery gray hairs. The inflorescence is a raceme bearing one or two purple or blue-violet flowers. Flowering takes place in June. The fruit is a papery, inflated, hairy black legume pod that can grow up to 2.5 centimeters long. This species grows in arctic habitat types, including tundra. Its northernmost documented occurrence is on Southampton Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Further south in the Rocky Mountains, it grows in alpine climate meadows and barren mountain habitats. In Colorado, it occurs at elevations up to 4030 meters, or 12,500 feet.
