Astragalus ertterae

Walker pass milkvetch, Walker Pass Milkvetch, Walker Pass milk-vetch, Walker Pass milk-vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Walker pass milkvetch is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada Mountains (Kern County) in open pine and oak woodlands with sandy, granitic soil at elevations of 1,750 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces cream-colored flowers in small clusters with petals 10 to 12 millimeters long, the banner petal distinctively recurved at about 45 degrees. Growing with low-spreading stems about 3.5 to 10 centimeters long, approximately half of which remain below the soil surface, it has a prostrate growth habit. Its compact leaf clusters contain 9 to 13 oblanceolate leaflets, each 6 to 13 millimeters long with blunt or shallowly notched tips. The fruit is a distinctive oblong pod 16 to 22 millimeters long, stiffly leathery with a raised upper suture and gently incurved shape.

Habitat: Open areas with sandy, granitic soil, pine/oak woodland

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 1750-1900 m

Bioregions: s SNH (Kern Co.).

California counties: Kern

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