Astragalus whitneyi var. lenophyllus

Woolly-leaved milkvetch, Woolly-Leaved Milkvetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Woolly-leaved milkvetch is a California native perennial ranked 4.3 by CNPS, found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Sierra Nevada Mountains in open, rocky places at elevations of 1,500 to 2,750 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces cream-colored flowers with a banner 8.3 to 16.5 millimeters long, with 5 to 9 flowers in its inflorescence. Growing with a distinctive gray-green appearance and spreading to ascending herbage hairs, it forms compact clusters with stems covered in soft, pale indumentum. Its leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters long, densely packed with leaflets positioned closely together without visible spaces between them. The plant produces elongated fruit bodies 1.5 to 4.2 centimeters long with a short stalk-like base, emerging from its delicate, woolly foliage.

Habitat: Open, rocky places

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1500-2750 m

Bioregions: KR, n SNH.

California counties: Nevada, Modoc, Lassen, Placer, Siskiyou, Plumas, Alpine, Trinity

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