Astragalus kentrophyta var. danaus

Sweetwater mountains milkvetch, Sweetwater Mountains Milkvetch, Sweetwater Mountains milk-vetch, Sweetwater Mountains milk-vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Sweetwater mountains milkvetch is a rare (CNPS 4.3) California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada and eastern Sierra Nevada bioregions in rocky places above timberline at elevations of 2,900 to 4,000 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces pale purple to white flowers with purple keel tips, approximately 4 to 5.6 millimeters long. Growing as a dense, rounded cushion with stems generally less than 5 centimeters tall, it forms a spiny, compact structure with strigose hairs. Its leaves feature 3 to 5 stiff, spine-tipped leaflets measuring 3 to 7 millimeters long, arranged in a compact configuration. The fruit is a small ovoid structure 3.5 to 5 millimeters long, containing 5 to 8 ovules.

Habitat: Rocky places at, above timberline

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: 2900-4000 m

Bioregions: c&amps SNH, SNE.

California counties: Mono, Inyo, Tuolumne, Fresno, Alpine

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