Astragalus jaegerianus

Lane mountain milkvetch, Lane Mountain Milkvetch, Lane Mountain milk-vetch, Lane Mountain milk-vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

Lane mountain milkvetch is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in central Mojave Desert near Barstow in desert shrub habitats at elevations of 900 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces dull pale purple flowers with darker veins, fading to cream, with petals 6.5 to 10 millimeters long. Growing with weak, often scrambling stems 3 to 7 decimeters tall, it has a sparsely leafy habit with minute, scale-like hairs. Its compound leaves have 7 to 15 narrow leaflets 3 to 15 millimeters long, which are slightly spaced and hairier on the upper surface. The fruit is a distinctive pendulous pod 18 to 25 millimeters long, with thick, raised, wavy sutures and a stiff-papery or leathery texture.

Habitat: Among desert shrubs, sand, gravel

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 900-1200 m

Bioregions: c DMoj (near Barstow).

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