Astragalus andersonii

Anderson's milkvetch

seeds
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Astragalus
Species:	A. andersonii
Binomial name
*Astragalus andersonii* A.Gray (1864-65)

Astragalus andersonii is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Anderson's milkvetch. It is native to eastern California and western Nevada, where it is found in the plateaus at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, including the Modoc Plateau.

Description

This is a small perennial herb forming a thick patch on the ground, the stems reaching about 20 centimeters in maximum length. The plant is coated in dense gray to white wavy hairs. The leaves are up to 10 centimeters long and made up of several oval-shaped leaflets. The inflorescence is a projecting or upright array of 12 to 26 pealike flowers. Each flower is white, often purple-tinted or purple-veined, and between 1 and 2 centimeters long. The fruit is a curved legume pod 1 to 2 centimeters long.

It is coated in very long white hairs and dries to a thick papery texture, the beans inside rattling with the wind.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, May 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.