| Astragalus albens | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Astragalus |
| Species: | A. albens |
| Binomial name | |
| Astragalus albens Greene, 1885 [1886 publ. 28 Feb 1885] | |
Astragalus albens is a species of milkvetch known by the common names Cushenbury milkvetch and silvery-white milkvetch.
It is endemic to San Bernardino County, California, where it is known from the northern slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains near the settlement of Cushenbury. Most of the plants are located in the woodland and scrub of the slopes between Big Bear in the mountains and Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert at the foot of the range.
It grows in habitat rich in carbonate rock. It is a federally listed endangered species which is known from 30 to 50 populations. [1] There are a total of about 7000 plants, fewer in drought years. [2]
Astragalus albens is an annual or perennial herb producing a prostrate mat of delicate stems coated densely in silvery hairs. The leaves are generally a few centimeters long and made up of several gray-green oval-shaped leaflets less than a centimeter long each. The inflorescence arises upright from the low patch of foliage and bears up to 14 pealike flowers. Each flower is dark-veined light to deep purple with a spot of white or light pink in the throat.
The fruit is a legume pod between one and two centimeters long. It is roughly hairy and crescent-shaped, drying to a thick papery texture. [3]
The main threat to this species is limestone mining, a large industry in this part of the San Bernardino Mountains. This form of mining alters the local habitat by physically removing plant life for quarries, road construction, and load dumping. It also produces major changes in the hydrology of the area and releases large amounts of carbonate dust into the air which combines with water and forms a very thin layer of what is essentially cement over the habitat. [1] Most of the populations of this plant are located on sites of active mining or sites which are targeted for mining in the future. [1]
Most of these sites are part of San Bernardino National Forest, and there are plans to set aside pieces of habitat for this and other endemics. Other threats to the species include off-road vehicle use and urban development.
Astragalus is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names include milkvetch, locoweed and goat's-thorn. Some pale-flowered vetches are similar in appearance, but they are more vine-like than Astragalus.
Erigeron parishii is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Parish's daisy and Parish's fleabane.
Eriogonum ovalifolium is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name cushion buckwheat. It is native to western North America from California to Alberta, where it is a member of many plant communities in varied habitats, including the sagebrush steppe and alpine regions.
Astragalus bernardinus, known by the common name San Bernardino milkvetch or the Lesser Three-keeled Milkvetch, is a species of milkvetch. It is a plant of desert and dry mountain slope habitat. It is native to California.
Astragalus bicristatus is a species of milkvetch known by the common names crested milkvetch and two-crested milkvetch. It is endemic to southern California, where it grows in the coniferous forests of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains of the Transverse Ranges.
Astragalus brauntonii is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Braunton's milkvetch. It is endemic to California, where it is known from fewer than 20 extant occurrences in the hills and mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin in Southern California. This is a federally listed endangered species in the United States.
Astragalus breweri is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Brewer's milkvetch. It is endemic to northern California, where it is found in several counties surrounding the north edge of the San Francisco Bay Area. It grows in open habitat in the North Coast Ranges, sometimes on serpentine soils.
Astragalus congdonii is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Congdon's milkvetch. It is a perennial herb that is endemic to central California.
Astragalus jaegerianus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Lane Mountain milkvetch. The plant was named for the biologist Edmund Jaeger, who first documented it in 1939.
Astragalus leucolobus is a species of milkvetch known by the common names Bear Valley milkvetch and Bear Valley woollypod.
Astragalus oocarpus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common names San Diego milkvetch and Descanso milkvetch.
Astragalus purshii is a species of milkvetch known by the common names woollypod milkvetch and Pursh's milkvetch.
Astragalus pycnostachyus is a species of milkvetch known by the common name marsh milkvetch. It is endemic to the coastline of California, where it grows in wet saline habitat such as marshes.
Astragalus desereticus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Deseret milkvetch. It is endemic to Utah County, Utah, where it is known from only one population. It was thought to be extinct until 1981 when this population was discovered. The population contains 5,000 to 10,000 plants on an area of land covering less than 300 acres. It is vulnerable to damage from grazing cattle, which eat the plant and trample the soil, and from development and erosion. This is a federally listed threatened species.
Astragalus limnocharis var. montii, synonym Astragalus montii, is a rare variety of flowering plant in the legume family. It is known by the common name Monti's milkvetch. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where there are only three known populations. Under the synonym A. montii, it is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Astragalus iselyi is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Isely's milkvetch. It is endemic to Utah in the United States.
Astragalus anisus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Gunnison milkvetch. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is limited to the Gunnison Basin of Gunnison and Saguache Counties.
Astragalus molybdenus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Leadville milkvetch and molybdenum milkvetch. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States. If the separate species Astragalus shultziorum and Astragalus lackschewitzii are included in A. molybdenum the range expands into Wyoming and Montana.
Astragalus wetherillii is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Wetherill's milkvetch. It is native to Colorado and Utah in the United States.
Acanthoscyphus is a monotypic genus in the family Polygonaceae that contains the single species Acanthoscyphus parishii, which is sometimes called Parish's oxytheca. This species is native and endemic to southern California.
