Astragalus trichopodus var. lonchus

Santa barbara milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Santa barbara milkvetch is a California native perennial found in the central and southern California Coast Ranges, northern Channel Islands, western Peninsular Ranges, and southwestern Mojave Desert in coastal bluffs and fields at elevations below 1,100 meters. Flowering from February to June, this plant produces white to purple flowers in clusters with 12 to 36 blossoms, with banner petals 11 to 19 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems that form low, spreading clumps, it develops a compact ground-hugging habit. Its leaves are compound with multiple small leaflets, typical of milkvetch species, creating a delicate, feathery appearance. The fruit is a distinctive bladdery pod 17 to 45 millimeters long, ovate in shape, with hairy sides north of San Diego and sometimes glabrous to the south.

Habitat: Coastal bluffs, fields

Bloom period: Feb-Jun

Elevation: < 1100 m

Bioregions: CCo, SCo, n ChI, w PR, sw DMoj

California counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, San Bernardino, Monterey, Alameda, Colusa

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