Astragalus californicus

Klamath milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Klamath milkvetch is a California native perennial found in eastern Klamath Ranges, northern California Ranges, and Modoc Plateau in dry, open areas of scrub and woodland at elevations generally below 1,550 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces cream-colored flowers with banners recurved at nearly 45 degrees, creating delicate cream-colored blossoms in clusters of 10 to 30. Growing with clumped, ascending stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall and widely branched, it forms robust, open clusters with wavy, grayish hairs. Its compound leaves feature 13 to 23 narrowly oblanceolate leaflets, each 5 to 20 millimeters long with obtuse or bluntly notched tips. The fruit is a distinctive linear oblong pod, 27 to 43 millimeters long, hanging pendulously with a stiff-papery texture.

Habitat: Dry, open areas in scrub, woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: generally < 1550 m

Bioregions: e KR, n CaRH, MP

California counties: Siskiyou, Modoc, Santa Barbara, Nevada, Shasta

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