Astragalus whitneyi var. confusus

Conelike milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conelike milkvetch is a California native perennial found in the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, eastern Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in open areas and hillsides, often in sagebrush habitat at elevations of 800 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces white to pink or lilac-tinged flowers with banner petals 12.8 to 17.2 millimeters long. Growing with low to robust gray or silvery stems, it forms a distinctive plant with spreading herbal hairs. Its compound leaves extend 2 to 10 centimeters long, with noticeable spaces between leaflets. The plant produces distinctive fruits with bodies 1.7 to 6 centimeters long, covered in minute curved hairs and supported by a 4 to 9 millimeter stalk-like base.

Habitat: Open areas, hillsides, often sagebrush

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 800-2300 m

Bioregions: CaRH, n SNH, MP

California counties: Modoc, Plumas, Lassen, Siskiyou

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