Astragalus shevockii
Encyclopedia
Astragalus shevockii is a rare species of milkvetch
known by the common names Little Kern milkvetch and Shevock's milkvetch. It is endemic to Tulare County, California
, where it grows in the High Sierra, generally on granite-based
soils in Jeffrey pine
forests.
is an open cluster of up to 13 cream-colored flowers each about a centimeter long.
The fruit is a hairy, papery legume pod 1 to 3 centimeters long.
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 names Little Kern milkvetch and Shevock's milkvetch. It is endemic to Tulare County, California
Tulare County, California
Tulare County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Fresno. Sequoia National Park is located in the county, as are part of Kings Canyon National Park, in its northeast corner , and part of Mount Whitney, on its eastern border...
, where it grows in the High Sierra, generally on granite-based
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
soils in Jeffrey pine
Jeffrey Pine
The Jeffrey Pine, Pinus jeffreyi, named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey, is a North American pine related to Ponderosa Pine.-Distribution and habitat:...
forests.
Description
Astragalus shevockii is a slender perennial herb producing thin, hard, hairy stems up to 35 centimeters long. The leaves are a few centimeters in length and are made up of several widely-spaced oval-shaped leaflets. The inflorescenceInflorescence
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 an open cluster of up to 13 cream-colored flowers each about a centimeter long.
The fruit is a hairy, papery legume pod 1 to 3 centimeters long.