Astragalus filipes

Basalt milkvetch, Basalt Milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Basalt milkvetch is a California native perennial found in the western Transverse Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, and Mojave Desert in dry, open sagebrush, pine, and chaparral areas at elevations of 750 to 2,150 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces dull white or pale yellow flowers in loose clusters with 10 to 30 generally reflexed blooms. Growing in clumped formations with stems 30 to 90 centimeters tall, it develops sparsely leafy stems that range from nearly smooth to densely hairy. Its compound leaves feature 9 to 19 narrow leaflets, each 3 to 25 millimeters long, with linear or narrowly oblong shapes and slightly obtuse or notched tips. The fruit develops as a spreading or hanging pod 17 to 30 millimeters long, with a distinctive stalk-like base and papery texture when mature.

Habitat: Dry, open areas in sagebrush or pine (MP) or chaparral (SW)

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 750-2150 m

Bioregions: WTR, SnBr, SnJt, MP

California counties: Riverside, Ventura, Kern, Santa Barbara, Modoc, Lassen, Siskiyou, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Shasta, Imperial, Plumas

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