Astragalus agrestis Douglas ex G. Don
field milk-vetch (purple milkvetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
field milk-vetch (purple milkvetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Low perennial herb from a buried stem-base and long, slender rhizomes; stems several, decumbent to erect, 10-30 cm long/tall, loosely tufted, slender, appressed-hairy with unbranched hairs.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound, 4-10 cm long, leaflets 11 to 23, linear-oblong to elliptic, mostly blunt to notched at the tip, 0.5-2 cm long, thinly short-hairy.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a dense, head-like, axillary raceme of 7 to 20 erect, pea-like flowers, the racemes 1-3 cm long and wide, on stalks from shorter to longer than the leaves; corollas usually purplish, tinged with white, drying bluish, 15-22 mm long, the narrow banner slightly longer than the wings, which are 4 mm longer than the keel; calyces bell-shaped, 8-13 mm long, hairy with mixed black and white hairs, the linear teeth 1/2 as long as the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, egg-shaped to oblong, unstalked, erect, 7-10 mm long, membranous, densely greyish to blackish soft-hairy, somewhat flattened, grooved beneath, 2-chambered.
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
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Astragalus agrestis
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) |
978 | 431 | 1980 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
8 | 0 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
177 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 1 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
86 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(17), ESSF(1), IDF(62), PP(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic meadows, grassy slopes, streambanks, lakeshores, forest openings and occasionally on cool talus slopes in the steppe and montane zones; common in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains and S of 52degreeN, rare northward; N to YT, E to ON, and S to WI, MN, KS, NM and N CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Astragalus danicus var. dasyglottis (Fisch. ex DC.) B. Boivin
Astragalus dasyglottis Fisch. ex DC.
Astragalus goniatus Nutt.
Astragalus hypoglottis Hook.