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Mancos milkvetch

Astragalus humillimus

Also called Mancos Milk Vetch

Mancos milkvetch
Photo: Martin Purdy https://www.inaturalist.org/people/mdpurdy, CC BY 4.0

Mancos milkvetch is a rare, federally endangered perennial herb in the pea family, found only on sandstone ledges in the Four Corners region. It is not a garden plant and is very difficult to grow outside its native habitat.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly; it is adapted to arid rimrock with little moisture.
Soil
Sandy, gritty, very well-drained mineral soil or sandstone-derived substrate.
Temperature
Tolerates cold winters and hot summers of the high desert mesa climate; exact limits not documented.
How easy
Hard
Native range
Colorado to New Mexico
Climate
temperate

About

Astragalus humillimus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Mancos milkvetch. It is native to a small section of the Four Corners region of the United States, where it can be found in Montezuma County, Colorado, and San Juan County, New Mexico. There are about nine small, localized populations on sandstone rimrock ledges on the mesas. The plant occurs in a region that is being developed for oil and gas exploration, and altered by associated activities such as road construction and pipeline installation. It is a federally listed endangered species.

This is a small perennial herb forming low tufts up to 30 centimeters wide in cracks and sandy depressions in sandstone cliffs and pavement. The sandstone is of Cretaceous origin, and local formations include the Point Lookout Sandstone.

Other Astragalus plants

Astragalus aboriginum · Rogue River milkvetch · Sharp-leaved Milk Vetch · Sharpkeel milkvetch · Humboldt County milkvetch · Purple milkvetch · Cushenbury milkvetch · Astragalus alopecurus · Alpine milkvetch · Crescent milkvetch · Hermit Milkvetch · Anderson's milkvetch

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Astragalus humillimus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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