Astragalus purshii var. lectulus

Pursh's milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Pursh's milkvetch is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, southern Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, and western edge of the eastern Sierra Nevada in dry, open flats and rocky slopes often with juniper and pine forests at elevations of 1,500 to 3,650 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces delicate pink or pale purple flowers in small clusters with 1 to 5 blooms. Growing with low-spreading stems rarely exceeding 10 centimeters tall, it forms compact ground-hugging clumps. Its leaves are composed of 3 to 11 small leaflets, each 2 to 10 millimeters long, creating a fine, intricate foliage structure. The fruit is a slightly curved pod 7.5 to 15 millimeters long, containing 24 to 32 seeds.

Habitat: Dry, open flats, slopes, often with juniper, pines, rocky slopes above timberline

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 1500-3650 m

Bioregions: SNH, SnGb, SnBr, w edge SNE.

California counties: San Bernardino, Mono, Inyo, Alpine, Siskiyou, Lassen, Mendocino, Tulare, Madera, Tehama, Tuolumne, Trinity, Los Angeles, Humboldt, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Placer, San Benito, Ventura

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