Participant Info

Species

Sphaerophysa salsula [Swainsonia salsula]

Family

Fabaceae

CommonName

alkali Swainson pea, buyan, Austrian peaweed

Presence

YES

Status

exotic, noxious

EarliestDate

1929

LatestDate

2023

Ecosystem

basin, foothill, ruderal, urban

Geobotanical

SSawatch, UBasin, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Alamosa, Baca, Russell Lakes

Other Localities

Alamosa (town)

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Alamosa Co, 3 air miles SW of Monte Vista (over-wintered pods still attached) 28 March 2019

Comments

There are many records of alkali Swainson pea from the Upper and Lower Basin, usually by road sides or in sandy/alkaline substrate. Two records from hillsides west of Saguache suggest that the plant has nativized to some extent. Alfalfa farmers keep the plant at bay since the seed approximates alfalfa seed, and the plant hosts fungi that contain swainsonine, noxious to livestock. This exotic from Asia is on the Colorado Department of Agriculture's "Watch" list for "noxious weeds." There are scattered observations from the west Great Plains to the Great Basin. Observations follow the Rio Grande drainage in New Mexico from the Colorado to the Mexican border—and on into the tip of west Texas.

Annotation