Deseret Milkvetch:  Fabaceae (Pea)  Astragalus  desereticus  Home   Plant Index   Photo Details & Description      Utah Range Map

Photo Details with credit to M.A. " Ben" Franklin, photographer, the Utah Natural Heritage Program and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources... Description A Federally listed threatened plant that occurs at a single site in Utah County, Utah. A member of the bean family, this species is a perennial herb with gray-silvery leaves four  to five cm long and white to pinkish petals with evident lilac-colored keel-tips. It blooms from late April to early June. Deseret milkvetch grows exclusively on sandy-gravelly soils weathered from conglomerate outcrops of the Moroni Formation. It likes steep south and west (rarely north) facing slopes and does well on larger, west-facing road-cuts. It grows in an open pinyon-juniper-sagebrush community, at elevations ranging from 1645 to 1740 meters. The species' habitat is state and privately owned, and is mainly a wildlife management area that is also used for cattle grazing.       __UDWR Host plant  for the Greenish Blue, Western Sulphur, Queen Alexandra's Sulphur and Clouded Sulphur Butterfly . Other - Astragalus is from the Greek word for ankle bone, referring to the shape of seeds Pronunciation: ass-TRA-gal-uss   Back to Top