Astragalus breweri

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Brewer's milkvetch
Astragalus breweri.jpg
Status TNC G3.svg
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Astragalus
Species:
A. breweri
Binomial name
Astragalus breweri

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. [1] It grows in open habitat in the North Coast Ranges, sometimes on serpentine soils.

Contents

Description

This is a small annual herb producing stems usually only a few centimeters long. The small leaves are made up of widely spaced leaflets with notched tips. The inflorescence arises on a rough-haired peduncle and holds up to ten pealike flowers. Each flower is about a centimeter long and colored white, yellow, or pale lavender, sometimes with light purple streaks. The fruit is an oval-shaped legume pod up to a centimeter long armed with a sharp beak. It contains 2 to 6 beanlike seeds. The bloom period is between April and June. [1]

Distribution and habitat

It is commonly found in or near volcanic slopes and serpentine outcrops. Plentiful locally in the interior valleys and foothills of the Coast Ranges in southeastern Mendocino, Lake, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, southwest to the Pacific slope of Mt. Tamalpais, and Marin County, California. It is found in grassy flats, meadows moist in spring, and open slopes in the chaparral belt below 2000 feet. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Astragalus</i> (plant) Genus of legumes

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.

<i>Astragalus canadensis</i> Species of legume

Astragalus canadensis is a common and widespread member of the milkvetch genus in the legume family, known commonly as Canadian milkvetch. The plant is found throughout Canada and the United States in many habitats including wetlands, woodlands, and prairies.

<i>Astragalus agrestis</i> Species of legume

Astragalus agrestis is a species of milkvetch known by the common names purple milkvetch, purple loco, and field milkvetch. It is native to much of western and northern North America from most of Canada to the southwestern United States, as well as eastern Asia. It grows in vernally moist areas such as meadows, and is often found in sagebrush.

<i>Astragalus albens</i> Species of legume

Astragalus albens is a species of milkvetch known by the common names Cushenbury milkvetch and silvery-white milkvetch.

<i>Astragalus bernardinus</i> Species of legume

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 californicus is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Klamath Basin milkvetch.

Astragalus clevelandii is an uncommon species of milkvetch known by the common name Cleveland's milkvetch. It is endemic to northern California, where it grows in moist areas of the North Coast Ranges. It is a member of the serpentine soils flora.

<i>Astragalus congdonii</i> Species of legume

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 curtipes is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Morro milkvetch. It is endemic to the Central Coast of California, including the Morro Bay area in San Luis Obispo County.

<i>Astragalus deanei</i> Species of legume

Astragalus deanei is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Dean's milkvetch, or Deane's milkvetch. It is endemic to southern San Diego County, California, where it grows on the slopes of the Peninsular Ranges between El Cajon and Tecate.

<i>Astragalus douglasii</i> Species of plant

Astragalus douglasii is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Douglas's milkvetch. It is native to California and Baja California, where it can be found in many types of desert, valley, chaparral and woodlands, and montane habitats, usually below 8,000 feet (2,400 m) elevation.

<i>Astragalus inversus</i> Species of legume

Astragalus inversus is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Susanville milkvetch.

<i>Astragalus inyoensis</i> Species of legume

Astragalus inyoensis is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Inyo milkvetch.

<i>Astragalus oocarpus</i> Species of legume

Astragalus oocarpus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common names San Diego milkvetch and Descanso milkvetch.

<i>Astragalus oxyphysus</i> Species of legume

Astragalus oxyphysus is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Diablo milkvetch. It is endemic to central California, where it grows in dry grassland and scrub habitat in the Central Valley and the adjacent Inner Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills.

<i>Astragalus purshii</i> Species of legume

Astragalus purshii is a species of milkvetch known by the common names woollypod milkvetch and Pursh's milkvetch.

Astragalus subvestitus is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Kern County milkvetch.

Astragalus humillimus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Mancos milkvetch. It is native to a small section of the Four Corners region of the United States, where it can be found in Montezuma County, Colorado, and San Juan County, New Mexico. There are about nine small, localized populations on sandstone rimrock ledges on the mesas. The plant occurs in a region that is being developed for oil and gas exploration, and altered by associated activities such as road construction and pipeline installation. It is a federally listed endangered species.

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.

References

  1. 1 2 "Astragalus breweri Calflora".
  2. "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2023-08-02.