Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Astragalus mohavensis is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Mojave milkvetch. It is native to the Mojave Desert of California and Nevada. This is an annual or perennial herb forming clumpy gray-green patches of upright stems up to 35 centimeters long. Leaves are up to about 12 centimeters long and are made up of many oval-shaped to rounded leaflets. The inflorescence bears up to 15 pinkish-purple flowers, each around a centimeter in length. The fruit is a hairy, leathery legume pod up to about 3 centimeters long. Varieties: There are two varieties of this plant. The rare variety A. m. var. hemigyrus, the halfring milkvetch, can be found only in Nevada, having been extirpated from the California side of the desert; it can be distinguished from the more common variety by its curved or coiled seed pods.

Plant type

Annual herb, Perennial herb

Size

2 - 14 in Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Pink, Purple

Plant communities

Creosote Bush Scrub, Joshua Tree Woodland

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 16 likely

Confirmed Likely

Alfalfa Looper Moth

Autographa californica

Orange Sulphur

Colias eurytheme

Harford's Sulphur

Colias harfordii

Western Sulphur

Colias occidentalis