Astragalus canadensis var. brevidens

Short toothed milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Short toothed milkvetch is a California native perennial found in northern Sierra Nevada, Modoc Plateau, and northern Sierra East in heavy soil habitats at elevations of 1,400 to 2,550 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces cream or green-white flowers tinged with dull purple, with banner petals recurving 40 to 90 degrees. Growing with leafy stems 15 to 55 centimeters tall from a rhizome and covered in branched hairs, the plant forms a dense cluster. Its compound leaves have 7 to 25 widely lanceolate leaflets, each 5 to 40 millimeters long with obtuse or shallowly notched tips. The fruit is an erect, cylindrical pod 10 to 15 millimeters long with a slightly recurved beak.

Habitat: Heavy soil, moist at least in spring

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 1400-2550 m

Bioregions: n SNH, MP, n SNE

California counties: Mono, Lassen, Nevada, Modoc, Placer, Plumas, Siskiyou

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