Wildflowers of the United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Astragalus schmolliae - Schmoll's Milkvetch. | The Astragalus - Milkvetch - genus is huge with over 2300 species worldwide and more than 400 species in the United States, making idenfication to a species somewhat difficult (nearly impossible for me.) Fortunately I found a park ranger at Mesa Verde National Park who was able to narrow the number of possibilities down to only a few, and with some research I was able to determine that this is the rare Schmoll's Milkvetch. Astragalus schmolliae is found only on Chapin Mesa and a few adjacent areas in southwestern Colorado, most of which lies within the Mesa Verde National Park, with the remainder in the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park. The plant was blooming abundantly on that mesa, but the identification was confirmed because I noted that as I left Chapin Mesa headed northward in my car, the plant was no longer observed along the roadsides. With the limited distribution of this plant, it is a candidate for protection as an endangered species. An inventory of the plant within Mesa Verde National Park in 2001 showed a population of over 450,000 plants, while one in 2004 resulted in a count of less than 300,000 plants. It is unusual in that even though there are nearby areas with similar habitat, the plant does not exist in those areas. The reason for this is unknown. The following description is taken from the Federal Wildlife Service a Petition To List Astragalus microcymbus and Astragalus schmolliae as Endangered or Threatened: "Astragalus schmolliae was first collected in Montezuma County, southwestern Colorado, in 1890. It was formally described as a species in 1945, when C.L. Porter named it after Dr. Hazel Marguerite Schmoll (Porter 1945, pp. 100-102; Barneby 1964, pp. 277-278; Isely 1998, p. 417). Astragalus schmolliae is a member of the family Fabaceae (legume family). The perennial plants are upright, 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in.) tall with one to several stems branching from an underground root crown. Its leaves are typical of many of the legumes, with 11 to 20 small leaflets on a stem. Leaves and stems are ashcolored due to a covering of short hairs. Flowers are creamy white and borne on upright stalks that extend above the leafy stems. The fruit is a pod, 3 to 4 cm (1 to 1.5 in.) long, covered with flat, stiff hairs, pendulous and curving downward (Barneby 1964, pp. 277-278). The deep taproot grows to 40 cm (16 in.) or more (Friedlander 1980, pp. 59-62)." Note that most other authoritative descriptions of the plant describe a red lower and green upper stem with some hairs, rather than the ash-color of the leaves which have denser appressed hairs. Found in: CO   Map courtesy of The Biota of North America Program. Map color key Search Our Database: Enter any portion of the Scientific, Common Name, or both. Do a general Google search of the entire site: #ad  Follow USWildflowers on Twitter #ad
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Code Update 20230302