Astragalus allochrous var. playanus

Playa milkvetch, Playa Milkvetch, playa milk-vetch, playa milk-vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Playa milkvetch is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in the eastern Mojave Desert on sandy flats at elevations of 600 to 1,950 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces white flowers with banners 5 to 7 millimeters long that recurve at approximately 45 degrees. Growing with prostrate to erect stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall that are sparsely covered in fine hairs, it forms a leafy herb with delicate branching. Its compound leaves are 2 to 12 centimeters long, featuring 11 to 19 oblanceolate or oblong leaflets 5 to 20 millimeters long with shallowly notched or obtuse tips. The fruit develops as a spreading, bladdery papery pod 15 to 30 millimeters long with a short, obscure beak.

Habitat: Sandy flats

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: 600-1950 m

Bioregions: e DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside

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