Participant Info

Species

Astragalus lonchocarpus

Family

Fabaceae

CommonName

great rushy milkvetch

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1976

LatestDate

2016

Ecosystem

montane

Geobotanical

Garitas, SSanjuans

Counties

Conejos, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, Schroeder Creek, 14 June 2014 (flowering); Rio Grande Co, Groundhog Road 26 July 2019 (fruiting)

Comments

Although a frequently collected plant in the San Juan River drainage (especially in Archuleta Co), Astragalus lonchophyllus has few collections from the Colorado Watershed—all from the west side on open lower-montane slopes. Ranchers may have kept the population down since the flower is toxic to livestock. It is present in the Rio Grande drainage of the northern half of New Mexico. In the USA it ranges through the dry montane parts of Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Annotation