Astragalus bernardinus
Encyclopedia
Astragalus bernardinus is a species of milkvetch
known by the common name San Bernardino milkvetch. It is native to the San Bernardino Mountains
of southern California
. It is also found in the Ivanpah Mountains
in the Mojave Desert
and the nearby New York Mountains
which straddle the California-Nevada
state line.
It is a plant of desert and dry mountain slope habitat. This is a slender, wiry perennial herb growing in twisted clumps, sometimes clinging to other plants for support. The stems are 10 to 50 centimeters long and mostly naked, coated partly in stiff hairs. The leaves are up to 14 centimeters long and are made up of widely spaced pairs of lance-shaped leaflets. The inflorescence
is a loose cluster of up to 25 light purple pealike flowers. The fruit is a pale-colored legume pod up to 3 centimeters long which dries to a papery texture.
Astragalus
Astragalus is a large genus of about 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
known by the common name San Bernardino milkvetch. It is native to the San Bernardino Mountains
San Bernardino Mountains
The San Bernardino Mountains are a short transverse mountain range north and east of San Bernardino in Southern California in the United States. The mountains run for approximately 60 miles east-west on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert in southwestern San Bernardino County, north of the...
of southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is also found in the Ivanpah Mountains
Ivanpah Mountains
The Ivanpah Mountains are located in the southeastern Mojave Desert of California in the United States. The range lies to the south and east of the Mescal Range and west of the Ivanpah Valley and New York Mountains. The mountains lie in a southwest-northeasterly direction, and are home to the...
in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
and the nearby New York Mountains
New York Mountains
The New York Mountains are found in northeastern San Bernardino County in California, USA; the range's northeast lies in southeast Nevada. The range lies just south of the small community of Ivanpah, and north of the Lanfair Valley. The mountains are part of the mountain ranges, cones, mountains,...
which straddle the California-Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
state line.
It is a plant of desert and dry mountain slope habitat. This is a slender, wiry perennial herb growing in twisted clumps, sometimes clinging to other plants for support. The stems are 10 to 50 centimeters long and mostly naked, coated partly in stiff hairs. The leaves are up to 14 centimeters long and are made up of widely spaced pairs of lance-shaped leaflets. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a loose cluster of up to 25 light purple pealike flowers. The fruit is a pale-colored legume pod up to 3 centimeters long which dries to a papery texture.