Oxytropis is a genus of plants in the
legume family. It is one of three genera of plants known as
locoweeds, and are notorious for being toxic to grazing animals. The other locoweed genus is the closely related
Astragalus. There are about 300 species, native to Eurasia and North America. Several species are native to the
Arctic. These are hairy perennial plants which produce
raceme inflorescences of pink, purple, white, or yellow flowers which are generally pea-like but have distinctive sharply beaked keels. The plant produces legume pods containing the seeds.