Astragalus nuttallianus var. austrinus

Smallflowered milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Smallflowered milkvetch is a California native annual found in areas with calcareous soils at elevations of 600 to 2,150 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces delicate white to pale yellow flowers with silvery-stiff hairs on the calyx. Growing with slender stems typically 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it forms a delicate, sprawling annual herb. Its compound leaves have leaflets with distinctively acute tips, each leaflet small and precisely shaped. The calyx tube measures approximately 2.5 millimeters long, with lobes between 1.8 to 2.8 millimeters, covered in striking silvery-white, very stiff spreading hairs.

Habitat: Calcareous soils

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: generally 600-2150 m

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