Astragalus zaraensis

Zara geveni

Plants acaulescent, ca. 12-16 cm tall, covered in vegetative parts with appressed, symmetrically medifixed white hairs 0.4-0.5 mm long. Caudex simple or shortly branched, covered with remnants of old leaves. Stipules narrowly triangular to narrowly oblong, 6-8 mm long, adnate to the petiole for 1.5-2 mm, rather densely hairy. Leaves 5-1  cm long; petiole 2^ cm long, like the rhachis loosely to rather densely hairy. Leaflets in 5-1 1 pairs, elliptic to obovate, 3-8 x 2-5 mm, at the apex obtuse to retuse, on both sides densely hairy when young, loosely hairy with age, on upper side sometimes spotted with minute pellucid to reddish dots. Peduncle 7-10 cm long, loosely white hairy. Raceme at anthesis rather densely 10-20-flowered, strongly elongating in fruit; axis hairy like the peduncle. Bracts  whitish- to brownish-membranous, narrowly triangular, 1 .5-3 mm long, sparsely white and black hairy, at the margins with minute, sessile, globular glands. Pedicels ca. 2 mm long, black and white hairy; flowers erect. Bracteoles minute, 0.3- 1 mm long, whitish, at the base of calyx or just below the calyx at the pedicel. Calyx 8-9 mm long, tubular, gibbous at the base, obliquely cut at the mouth, loosely covered with appressed white and black hairs 0.2-0.4 mm long and with somewhat longer white hairs; teeth narrowly triangular to linear, 0.5-1.5 mm long, hairy on inner side. Petals violet. Standard ca. 20-21 mm long; blade distinctly upcurved above the middle, ca. 6-6.5 mm wide, narrowly elliptic, not attenuate towards the slightly retuse apex, subabruptly narrowed at the base into the rather long claw. Wings ca. 1 5 mm long; blades narrowly oblong, obliquely laterally emarginate at the apex, 7-8 x 2 mm; auricle ca. 1 mm long, claw ca. 8 mm long. Keel 13 mm long; blades obliquely obovate, with widely curved lower edge and sigmoid-concave upper edge, at the apex obtuse to subacute, 5 x 2.5 mm; auricle 0.5 mm long, obtuse, claw ca. 7 mm long. Staminal tube truncate at the mouth. Ovary subsessile, linear, sparsely appressed hairy; style glabrous. Legume sessile, erect, linear, distinctly upcurved to sickle-shaped, 16-20 mm long, ca. 2 mm high and 2.5 mm wide, slightly carinate ventrally, narrowly grooved dorsally, attenuate at the apex into a slender, ± straight beak 3-4 mm long, fiilly bilocular; valves thinly coriaceous, pale brownish, distinctly purplish mottled, loosely covered with appressed white hairs 0.5-0.6 mm long, sometimes glabrescent.

Endemic.