Astragalus eucosmus B.L. Rob.
elegant milk-vetch (elegant milkvetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
elegant milk-vetch (elegant milkvetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and branching stem-base; stems solitary to few, ascending to erect, 15-70 cm tall, unbranched, with short, stiff, appressed, unbranched hairs.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound, 3-11 cm long on very short or no stalks; leaflets 9 to 19, thin, greenish, hairless above, hairy below, elliptic to lance-oblong, blunt or notched at the tip, 1-2.5 cm long; stipules lanceolate, 4-9 mm long, a few lowermost fused and clasping at the base, free above.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an axillary raceme of 10 to 30 pea-like flowers, the racemes compact and 2-3 cm long initially, elongating in age to 20 cm, on stalks 8-18 cm long and about twice the length of the leaves, the flowers nodding and becoming oriented to one side; corollas purplish, occasionally white, 6-9 mm long, the wings shorter than the banner, slightly longer than the keel; calyces bell-shaped, 2.5-4 mm long, black- or grey-hairy, the teeth linear-lanceolate and 1/2 as long as the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, obliquely egg-shaped to ellipsoid, rigid-pointed at the tip, somewhat flattened, drooping, densely grey-black-hairy, 8-12 mm long, straight, nearly unstalked, membranous-papery, 1-chambered but with a partial partition.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Astragalus eucosmus
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1463 | 350 | 2408 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
19 | 0 | 70 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
154 | 20 | 320 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
16 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(3), ESSF(6), IDF(3), IMA(1), SBPS(1), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic meadows, streambanks, gravel bars, rocky slopes, thickets and open forests in the montane and lower subalpine zones; infrequent in BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to MT and CO.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Astragalus eucosmus subsp. sealei (Lepage) HultΘn
Astragalus eucosmus var. facinorum Fernald
Astragalus parviflorus (Pursh) MacM.
Astragalus sealei Lepage
Atelophragma elegans (Hook.) Rydb.
Microphacos parviflorus (Pursh) Rydb.