Astragalus missouriensis (Missouri Milk-Vetch) - photos and description
Flowers have a rounded keel
Origin: Native.
General: Growth habit semi-prostrate, stems tufted from the caudex. Foliage densely pubescent, giving the leaves a silver colour.
Flowers: Flowers are showy, grow in a globose spike, are reddish-purple to bluish-purple in colour. I measured flowers to 16 mm in length.
Leaves: Plants nearly stemless, stem leaves alternate. Leaves pinnate, we counted up to 17 leaflets (Budd's Flora lists 9 to 21 leaflets). Leaflets oblanceolate.
Height: We measured plants to a height of 9 cm.
Habitat: Prairie slopes and eroded hillsides.
Abundance: Common.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos May 7th, May 15th, and May 18th prairie hillsides, Buffalo Grass Eco Reserve, 200 km southeast of Regina, SK, May 15th Claybank badlands, 80 km south of Regina, SK, and May 19th, grassland on the slopes of the western Qu'Appelle Valley, about 100 km west of our home in Regina, SK.