Single Record
Participant Info
- Species
- Astragalus shortianus
- Family
- Fabaceae
- CommonName
- Short’s milkvetch, early purple milkvetch
- Presence
- YES
- Status
- native
- EarliestDate
- 1947
- LatestDate
- 1999
- Ecosystem
- foothill, montane, ruderal
- Geobotanical
- SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, NCristos
- Counties
- Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande, Saguache
- Passes
- WildlifePreserves
- Other Localities
- Comments
- There are 10 vouchers of Short's milkvetch from the Watershed, all on the west side of the Valley except for a 1947 collection from near Ft. Garland. And there are three more records, iNaturalist observations, one from 10 air miles SW of La Garita (Saguache Co, 10 May 2021, observation #78306056); a second from five air miles N of Hwy 114 on CR46AA (Saguache Co, 22 May 2023, observation #165422698); and a third from near Fort Garland (Costilla Co, 2 May 2023, observation #160300195). Astragalus shortianus occupies a variety of mesic habitats, including volcanic soil and the mid-strip of a jeep road. This is a Rockies milkvetch whose range begins, barely, in Montana and continues down to the northern quarter of New Mexico, including Rio Grande drainage. In the state of Colorado, most of the observations have been from the Front Range. In the Watershed, the species earns its common name, early purple milkvetch, usually blooming in the montane during May.
- Annotation