Astragalus jaegerianus

Astragalus jaegerianus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Lane Mountain milkvetch. The plant was named for the biologist Edmund Jaeger, who first documented it in 1939.[1]

Astragalus jaegerianus

Endangered (ESA)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Astragalus
Species:
A. jaegerianus
Binomial name
Astragalus jaegerianus

Distribution

It is endemic to northeastern San Bernardino County, California, where it is known from only four populations in the vicinity of Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert.[1] It is a federally listed endangered species.[1]

Description

This is a perennial herb with thin stems coated in scaly hairs. The stems reach 30 to 70 centimeters in length and grow tangled in the herbage of adjacent shrubs. In dry years the plant grows only a few centimeters long before flowering, but after abundant rain it may climb to the tops of neighboring shrubs.[1] The leaves are 2 to 5 centimeters long and are made up of several widely spaced narrow leaflets with hairy upper surfaces.[2]

The inflorescence is an open array of up to 15 pale purple, dark veined flowers. Each flower is up to one centimeter in length. The flowers are insect-pollinated, with the most common pollinator being the megachilid bee Anthidium dammersi.[1][3] The fruit is a hanging legume pod up to 2.5 centimeters long. It is hairless and dries to a leathery or thick papery texture.

gollark: The plant is, though, I must say, a bit far from anywhere where it might be used or where fuel could be produced.
gollark: I can fiddle with my program for managing P2P tunnels for this.
gollark: I'll make some sort of control system for the reactor to turn it on when needed, and make fuel production.
gollark: Oh, we have some spare solenoids.
gollark: I made half a stack.

References
  1. Charlton, David. (2007). Determining the population boundaries of a narrowly endemic perennial plant, Lane Mountain milk-vetch, in San Bernardino County, California. Charis Corporation, Bartsow, CA, for the USDA Forest Service.
  2. https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ASJA
  3. US Army. (2003). Lane Mountain Milkvetch Pollination Survey Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine. Part 4.


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