| Astragalus phoenix | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Astragalus |
| Species: | A. phoenix |
| Binomial name | |
| Astragalus phoenix | |
Astragalus phoenix is a rare species of milkvetch commonly known as Ash Meadows milkvetch. It is mostly found in Nye County, southwestern Nevada.
The plant is locally endemic to Ash Meadows, a desert oasis and wildlife refuge in the Amargosa Desert.
The habitat is made up of stark, white flats, and washes in a wetland area that is fed by seeps and springs and undergoes evaporation, leaving behind a hard mineral crust on the land. [1]
The plant grows in undisturbed areas of the crust. It can be found at about 13 sites in a seven-by-three-mile range. [1]
It is one of several rare plants and animals endemic to the Ash Meadows—Amargosa Valley area. Other plants occurring in the area include saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), and alkali goldenbush (Isocoma acradenia). [2]
Astragalus phoenix is a perennial herb forming a flat cushion or mat up to 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) wide. The inflorescence bears one or two pink or purple flowers. [3]
The plant is pollinated by bees of genus Anthophora , which show an affinity for it even in the presence of other flowering plants. [4]
Astragalus phoenix is a federally listed threatened species.
Threats to this species include the destruction of or damage to its unique habitat. Alterations in the hydrology of the region occur when pumping or other processes affects the flow of the springs and seeps. [3] Road construction, mining operations, and agriculture reduced the plant's numbers. [3]
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. The Amargosa River is one out of two rivers located in the California portion of the Mojave Desert with perennial flow. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, into the Mojave Desert, and finally into Death Valley where it disappears into the ground aquifer. Except for a small portion of its route in the Amargosa Canyon in California and a small portion at Beatty, Nevada, the river flows above ground only after a rare rainstorm washes the region. A 26-mile (42 km) stretch of the river between Shoshone and Dumont Dunes is protected as a National Wild and Scenic River. At the south end of Tecopa Valley the Amargosa River Natural Area protects the habitat.
The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge located in the Amargosa Valley of southern Nye County, in southwestern Nevada. It is directly east of Death Valley National Park, and is 90 mi (140 km) west-northwest of Las Vegas.
The Amargosa Desert is located in Nye County in western Nevada, United States, along the California–Nevada border, comprising the northeastern portion of the geographic Amargosa Valley, north of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
The desert dace is a rare cyprinid fish known only from the warm springs and creeks of Soldier Meadow in western Humboldt County, Nevada, USA. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Eremichthys. The species is also notable for its ability to live in waters as warm as 38 °C (100 °F). It is the sole member of its genus Eremichthys.
The Kiavah Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located in the Mojave Desert, Scodie Mountains, and southern Sierra Nevada in Kern County, California, United States. California State Route 178 connects the town of Lake Isabella to State Highway 14 in the east, crossing Walker Pass at the north boundary of the wilderness.
Nitrophila mohavensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common name Amargosa niterwort. It is endemic to Nye County in southwestern Nevada and Inyo County, in eastern California.
The Death Valley freshwater ecoregion is a freshwater ecoregion in the western United States. It consists of endorheic rivers, lakes, and springs in the drainages of the Owens, Amargosa, and Mojave Rivers, in central-eastern California and southwestern Nevada.
Astragalus ampullarioides is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Shivwits milkvetch. It was previously classified as a variety of Astragalus eremiticus. It is endemic to Washington County, Utah, where it is known from only seven populations. Estimates of the total number of individuals range from 1000 to 4200. The species occurs in desert scrub and woodlands on the Chinle Formation. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Astragalus holmgreniorum is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common names Holmgren milk-vetch and paradox milk-vetch. It is native to a tiny section of desert shrub woodland on the border between Utah and Arizona, in the far northern Mojave Desert. There are six populations remaining. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Astragalus osterhoutii, or the Osterhout milkvetch or Kremmling milkvetch, is an endangered species of milkvetch, discovered and collected in 1905 at Sulfur Spring in Grand County Colorado by Colorado botanist George Everett Osterhout for which the plant was named. It is found in the U.S. state of Colorado, in a 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) radius near the town of Kremmling.
Zeltnera namatophila, the spring-loving centaury, is a rare species of flowering plant in the gentian family. It is endemic to the Amargosa Valley, in Nye County, southwestern Nevada.
Cyprinodon nevadensis is a species of pupfish in the genus Cyprinodon. The species is also known as the Amargosa pupfish, but that name may also refer to one subspecies, Cyprinodon nevadensis amargosae. All six subspecies are or were endemic to very isolated locations in the Mojave Desert of California and Nevada.
Mentzelia leucophylla, known by the common name Ash Meadows blazingstar, is a rare species of flowering plant in the Loasaceae. It is endemic to southwestern Nevada, in the Western United States.
Penstemon penlandii is a rare species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names Penland penstemon and Penland's beardtongue. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from a strip of land about five miles long in central Grand County. There are two occurrences totalling about 8600 individuals. This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Spiranthes diluvialis is a rare species of orchid known as Ute lady's tresses. The species name diluvialis means "of the flood". It is native to the western United States, where there are scattered, mostly small occurrences in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Two occurrences were discovered in southern British Columbia in 2006. The plant faces a number of threats to its existence. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Ambrysus amargosus, the Ash Meadows naucorid, is a small insect of the Naucoridae family. They were first identified by Ira La Rivers in 1953. They live in the waters of Point of Rocks Springs, in the east-central region of Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nye County, Nevada. Because of changes to their habitat, this species lives only in a few small stream channels. Scientific over-collection and introduced predatory fish are the main threats to these insects. They are the first species to be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). They are also currently protected under the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)
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 microcymbus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name skiff milkvetch. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is known from Gunnison County and the edge of Saguache County. It was discovered in 1945 by Rupert Barneby, a British botanist. Currently, skiff milkvetch is experiencing population declines and is listed as a Tier 1 species in the Rare Plant Addendum to the Colorado State Wildlife Action Plan.
Flora of the Colorado Desert, located in Southern California. The Colorado Desert is a sub-region in the Sonoran Desert ecoregion of southwestern North America. It is also known as the Low Desert, in contrast to the higher elevation Mojave Desert or High Desert, to its north.
Grindelia fraxinipratensis, common name Ash Meadows gumweed, is a North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the southwestern United States, in Mojave Desert regions in Nye County in Nevada and Inyo County in California. Some of the Nevada populations lie inside the Nevada Test Site of the United States Atomic Energy Commission
