Single Record

Comments: NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. For Astragalus allochrous there is only one location in the Watershed: two voucher specimens, 21 June 1987, from near Las Mesitas in Conejos Co (about 1 mile W of Antonito). These fit the variety playanus, with whitish petals. The observations would represent the northernmost occurrence of Wooton's milkvetch, a desert Southwest USA plant found mainly in New Mexico and Arizona. It follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico down to the Big Bend country of Texas. Note that the plant is toxic to livestock. Also note that currently (Nov 2024), POWO names this taxon Astragalus wootonii. POWO distinguishes the taxon from Astragalus allochrous—A. wootonii having symmetrical pods, A. allochrous asymmetrical pods. Allred et al. (2020) and FNA (2024) note that the pod shape of the two taxa intergrade. They recognize only one genus, A. allochrous, with varieties, among them A. allochrous var. playanus and A. allochrous var. wootonii. The first is POWO's A. wootonii, which has been found in Conejos Co; the second is POWO's A. allochrous, which has not been found in Colorado.