Astragalus tephrodes var. brachylobus

Ashen milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Ashen milkvetch is a California native perennial herb found in open, dry ground at elevations around 150 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces pink-purple flowers with banners 14 to 24 millimeters long, recurved at approximately 45 degrees. Growing with prostrate stems up to 8 centimeters long and a tufted habit, the plant is covered in silvery-silky to green-gray hairs. Its compound leaves reach 4 to 16 centimeters long and feature 11 to 31 leaflets, each widely obovate and 4 to 17 millimeters long. The fruit is an ascending, plump-lanceolate pod 17 to 30 millimeters long with stiffly leathery texture.

Habitat: Open, dry ground

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 150 m

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