Tundra Milkvetch

Phaca littoralis (Hook.) Rydb. Bull. N. Y. Bot. Card. 2: 176 1901
Phaca frigida littoralis Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 140. 1831. Astragalus frigidus littoralis S. Wats. Bibl. Ind. 193. 1878. Astragalus alpinus littoralis Sheldon, Minn. Bot. Stud. 1: 133. 1894.
Perennial, with a branched rootstock; stem more or less villous-pilose, 1-3 dm. high; leaves 5-10 cm. long; stipules large, membranous, obliquely ovate, 1-1.5 cm. long, 4-6 mm. wide, ciliate; petioles 0.5-2 cm. long, as well as the rachis sparingly pilose; leaflets 9-13, oval to oblong, 1-2.5 cm. long, 4-8 mm. wide, rounded at the apex, glabrate above, villous-pilose beneath, usually densely so; peduncles 4-7 cm. long, villous-pilose; racemes short; bracts broad, oval or elliptic; calyx oblong-campanulate, 7-8 mm. long, black -villous; lobes 1 mm. long, triangular; corolla ochroleucous, about 15 mm. long; petals as in P. americana but comparatively broader; pod black -hairy, the stipe 4-5 mm. long, the body ellipsoid, 1.5 cm. long, 6-7 mm. wide, and thick, acute at each end.
Type locality: Arctic shores, westward of the Mackenzie River, Canada.
Distribution: Arctic North America from the Coronation Gulf to Bering Strait, south to Mt. St. Elias.

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Plants with rhizomes or suckers, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Stem hairs hispid to villous, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules membranous or chartaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite , Leaflets 5-9, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Flowers in axillary clusters or few-floweredracemes, 2-6 flowers, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals ochroleucous, cream colored, Petals orange or yellow, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Petals bicolored or with red, purple or yellow streaks or spots, Banner petal narrow or oblanceolate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens diadelphous, 9 united, 1 free, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Style persistent in fruit, Fruit a legume, Fruit stipitate, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit inflated or turgid, Fruit beaked, Fruit ha iry, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.