Astragalus layneae
Layne milkvetch, Layne Milkvetch
Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Layne milkvetch is a California native perennial found in the western Mojave Desert and Inyo County in sandy flats and washes at elevations of 25 to 1,750 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white and purple flowers with delicate petals, the white flowers accented by purple wing tips and a lilac-tinted banner that curves nearly 50 degrees. Growing with erect stems 2.5 to 16 centimeters tall, it emerges from a deep rhizome and has distinctive grayish coarse hairs covering its structure. Its compound leaves stretch 4 to 16 centimeters long, featuring 11 to 23 ovate to rounded leaflets measuring 5 to 23 millimeters. The fruit is a distinctive leathery pod 20 to 65 millimeters long, curved in a quarter to full circle with spreading, wavy hairs.
Habitat: Sandy flats, washes
Bloom period: Mar-Jun
Elevation: 25-1750 m
Bioregions: W&I, DMoj
California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, Mono, Riverside, San Joaquin, Los Angeles
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.