Astragalus tener var. tener

Alkali milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Alkali milkvetch is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in southern Sacramento Valley, northern San Joaquin Valley, eastern San Francisco Bay Area, and Santa Cruz Island in alkaline flats and vernally moist meadows at elevations below 60 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces delicate white to pale purple flowers in small clusters of 3 to 12 blooms. Growing with slender stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it forms low-spreading or slightly ascending patches. Its compound leaves feature 7 to 17 small leaflets arranged along delicate stems, each leaflet approximately 2 to 9 centimeters long. The fruit is a slightly curved pod 10 to 25 millimeters long, containing 8 to 14 seeds.

Habitat: Alkaline flats, vernally moist meadows

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 60 m

Bioregions: s ScV, n SnJV, e SnFrB (where mostly extirpated), SCoRI.

California counties: Merced, Yolo, Alameda, San Benito, Solano, San Diego, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Napa, Stanislaus, Kern

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