Astragalus desereticus

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Astragalus desereticus
Deseret milkvetch (Astragalus desereticus) (31496943688).jpg
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
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. desereticus
Binomial name
Astragalus desereticus
Barneby

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. [2] The population contains 5,000 to 10,000 plants on an area of land covering less than 300 acres. [2] It is vulnerable to damage from grazing cattle, which eat the plant and trample the soil, and from development and erosion. [2] This is a federally listed threatened species.

Contents

This is a perennial herb with a short stem growing from a woody taproot and caudex unit. The leaves are up to 12 centimeters long and are made up of several leaflets up to 1.4 centimeters long. The foliage is coated in silvery-white hairs that make the plant pale in color. The inflorescence is a raceme of 5 to 10 flowers. Each is about 2 centimeters long and pinkish purple with darker tips on the petals. The fruit is a hairy legume pod about a centimeter long. The plant reproduces sexually by seed and cannot reproduce vegetatively. [1]

This plant only occurs in the woodlands around Birdseye, Utah. [3] Its numbers are thought to have increased in recent years, and the threats to its existence are not as severe as once reported, so the plant was proposed for removal from the Endangered Species List in 2017. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

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

Astragalus agnicidus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Humboldt County milkvetch. It is endemic to northern California, where it is known only from two populations in Humboldt County and one in Mendocino County.

<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.

Astragalus austiniae is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Austin's milkvetch. It is native to the Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe. It is a plant of the alpine climate of the high mountains, where it tolerates exposed areas.

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

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.

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

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.

<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.

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

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

<i>Astragalus pycnostachyus</i> Species of aquatic plant

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.

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

Astragalus cremnophylax is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common names sentry milkvetch and cliff milkvetch. It is endemic to Arizona, where the three varieties grow in three separate locations. The rarest variety, var. cremnophylax, is a federally listed endangered species which grows only on the rim of the Grand Canyon. The two other varieties are known from the Buckskin Mountains and Marble Canyon.

<i>Astragalus holmgreniorum</i> Species of endangered plant

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 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.

<i>Astragalus limnocharis <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> montii</i> Subspecies of legume

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.

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

Astragalus barrii is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Barr's milkvetch. It is native to the United States, where it is a "regional endemic", occurring in parts of southwestern South Dakota, northeastern Wyoming, southeastern Montana, and Nebraska.

Astragalus tyghensis is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Tygh Valley milkvetch. It is endemic to Oregon in the United States, where it is known only from the Tygh Valley of Wasco County.

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 leptaleus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name park milkvetch. It is native to the Rocky Mountains of the United States, where it occurs in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.

Astragalus proximus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Aztec milkvetch. It is native to southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States.

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 "NatureServe". NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. November 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "CPC National Collection Plant Profile". National Collection of Imperiled Plants - Plant Profiles. Center for Plant Conservation. March 4, 2010. Archived from the original on December 15, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Tilley, D.; L. St. John; D. Ogle (2010). "Plant guide for Deseret milkvetch (Astragalus desereticus)" (PDF). Aberdeen, ID: USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Idaho Plant Materials Center. Retrieved March 26, 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. "Deseret milk-vetch". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on 2017-05-18. Retrieved 2020-04-15.