''Astragalus acutirostris'' is a species of

milkvetch ''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 tempe ...

known by the common name sharpkeel milkvetch. It is native to the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

and surroundings of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, where it grows in dry, sandy, gravelly areas.

Description

''Astragalus acutirostris'' is an annual

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

growing a hairy reddish stem no more than 30 centimeters long along the ground or slightly upright. The small leaves are made up of several pairs of small oblong leaflets, each less than a centimeter long and often with notched tips. The

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. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

contains one to six white or pinkish-tinted pealike flowers, each with a banner that curves back. The fruit is a slightly curved, narrow legume pod 1 to 3 centimeters long. The pod is thin-walled and coated sparsely in white hairs like the rest of the plant.

References

External links

Jepson Manual - ''Astragalus acutirostris''USDA Plants Profile: ''Astragalus acutirostris''''Astragalus acutirostris'' - Photo gallery
acutirostris Flora of Nevada Flora of Arizona Flora of the California desert regions Plants described in 1885 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Astragalus-stub