Montane, subalpine. Meadows. Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, August 22, 2007.

This Oxytropis is nearly circumboreal in its distribution and in the Northern Hemisphere it is found scattered from Alaska to Newfoundland, through the Rockies, and west to California.  But as widespread as this distribution is, this is the first time it has been recorded in Dolores County, Colorado.

Oxytropis deflexa grows from three to sixteen inches tall, has hairy leaves on spreading arching red stems, flowers ascend on leafless stalks, and seed pods are pendulant and grooved lengthwise.  Notice that leaves near the tip of the stem are shorter than those at the bottom and that the flower cluster is fairly crowded but that the stem of the seed pods (shown below) has elongated and the pods are not as crowded. 

Peter Pallas named this plant Astragalus deflexus in 1779 from a specimen collected in Siberia.  Augustin de Candolle renamed it Oxytropis deflexa in 1802.  "Deflexa" is Latin for "reflexed", "bending outward".

Montane, subalpine. Meadows. Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, August 22, 2007.

Notice the very abruptly pointed tip to the keel portion of the flower (the pink tip at center, far left).  This shape is a diagnostic characteristic for the Oxytropis genus.  To either side of the banner are the wings of the flower and above the keel is the backward curved banner.

Montane, subalpine. Meadows. Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, August 22, 2007.

Pods are compressed on the long axis.

Montane, subalpine. Meadows. Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, August 22, 2007.