Astragalus agrestis

Field milkvetch, Field Milkvetch, field milk-vetch, field milk-vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Field milkvetch is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in the Lassen and Mono County regions of the Modoc Plateau and eastern Sierra Nevada in vernally moist sagebrush habitats at elevations of 1,600 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces pink-purple to nearly white flowers in small head-like clusters up to 2.5 centimeters long. Growing with decumbent or ascending stems 4 to 30 centimeters tall, it often forms small patches supported by surrounding grasses. Its leaves are compound with 9 to 23 leaflets, each 5 to 20 millimeters long, ranging from lanceolate to ovate with acute or notched tips. The fruit is an erect, stiff-papery pod 7 to 10 millimeters long that turns black, with white hairs and a distinctively three-sided shape.

Habitat: Vernally moist soil, with sagebrush

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 1600-2200 m

Bioregions: MP (Lassen Co.), SNE (Mono Co.)

California counties: Mono, Lassen, Modoc

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.