Scientific name Astragalus nuttallii Rank Species | Genus Astragalus Higher classification Milkvetch | |
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Astragalus nuttallii is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Nuttall's milkvetch. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in the sandy soils of coastal habitat. This is a perennial herb forming thick, tangled clumps of hairy to hairless stems up to a meter in length. The abundant leaves are up to 17 centimeters in length and made up of many oval-shaped leaflets. The inflorescence is a large, dense body of up to 125 flowers, each around 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. The flowers are dull cream-colored and sometimes purple-tinted. The fruit is an inflated legume pod up to 6 centimeters long which dries to a papery texture and contains many seeds in its single chamber. One variety of this species, the ocean bluff milkvetch (var. nuttallii) is endemic to the Central Coast of California.