White Milkvetch (9)
The Astragalus genus is very large and individual species are identified by their seed pod rather than their flower. Common names include Milkvetch and Locoweed, which is also used for the Oxytropis genus. Milkvetch can also be Pink or Blue/Purple.
Drummond's Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Grows to 2 feet with a stout hairy stem. Leaves are silvery and hairy. |
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Chickpea Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Grows to 2 feet with hairless stems that may be erect but more often sprawling. Leaves are green. Flowers grow in a dense spike from the leaf axils. |
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Stinking Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Grows to 2 feet like a shrub with reddish stems and green leaves. Long-winged, tubular flowers droop in thick clusters. Seed pods are plump and sharp-tipped. The common name is because the plants absorb selenium which is stinky but the plants I have encountered smelled like peas. |
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Ellis' Stinking Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Very similar to A. praelongus var. praelongus above. It is differentiated by narrower seed pods, less than ½" across. |
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Rushy Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Grows to 2 feet with bright green stems and long, narrow leaves. Flowers are loosely clustered along the stem producing many spear-shaped 1" long seed pods.
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Loose-flower Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Grows 1-2 feet with many stems and narrow leaflets. Flowers grow in loose clusters along the stem. Pods are flat and mottled with dark red. |
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Two-Grooved Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Grows to 3 feet with a leafy, smooth stem and arching leaves. Flowers grow in long, dense, showy clusters and produce a slender seed pod with two prominent grooves. Can be white, pink or purplish. |
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Timber Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Grows to 16" with sprawling stems. Similar to A. tenellus above but with larger flowers. Flowers are purple-tipped. Leaflets are narrow and spaced apart compared to A. tenellus. Pods are ¾" long and smooth. |
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San Rafael Milkvetch Family:
Pea (Fabaceae) Grows to 18" high in a dense, lush form about 24" across with long, very narrow, divided, grass-like leaves. Some of the lower leaves are flattened, slightly curled inward but the upper leaves are round in cross-section. Older plants have a thatch of previous years stems at the base. Flowers are pure white, about 1" long growing apart on stems above the foliage with some leaves on the stem. Seed pods are ¾" long, flat and mottled and hang down from the stem. |
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I identified this from the Colorado Rare Plant Guide which states that it only occurs in a few counties on the Utah/Colorado border so I contacted Al Schneider who passed it on to Stan Welsh, the Astragalus expert who confirmed my ID. Now it is a rare plant in New Mexico. According to the Colorado Rare Plant Guide, the flowers could be purple-tipped and the seed pods pointing upwards. |