Astragalus hornii var. hornii

Horn's milkvetch, Horn's Milkvetch, Horn's milk-vetch, Horn's milk-vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Horn's milkvetch is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in southern San Joaquin Valley, southern California Coast, western Transverse Ranges, and western edge of Mojave Desert in salty flats and lake shores at elevations of 60 to 300 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces white to pale lilac flowers in dense head-like clusters with 10 to 35 spreading blossoms. Growing with slender to stout stems 30 to 120 centimeters tall and widely branched habit, it develops an open, spreading form. Its leaves are 1.5 to 13 centimeters long with 15 to 33 elliptic leaflets, typically 5 to 20 millimeters in length. The fruit develops in crowded, spherical heads with inflated, papery pods featuring a prominent, pointed beak.

Habitat: Salty flats, lake shores

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: 60-300 m

Bioregions: s SnJV, SCo, WTR, w edge DMoj

California counties: Kings, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Kern, Tulare

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