Bolander's Milkvetch

Hesperonix bolanderi (A. Gray) Rydberg
Astragalus Bolanderi A. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 7: 337. 1868. Tragacanlha Bolanderi Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 943. 1891. Astragalus supervacaneus Greene, Erythea 1: 221. 1893.
A perennial, with a woody root and cespitose caudex; stems erect, 3-5 dm. high, angled and somewhat sulcate, sparingly hairy; leaves ascending, 8-12 cm. long; stipules deltoid, 5 mm. long; leaflets 17-25, oblong to oval, 8-20 mm. long, 3-7 mm. wide, appressed-pilose on both sides, obtuse at the apex; peduncles 5-10 cm. long, erect, sulcate; bracts subulate, 3-4 mm. long; pedicels 1 mm. long; calyx pilose with mixed black and light hairs, the tube 6 mm. long, the teeth subulate, 3-4 mm. long, unequal; corolla white or cream-colored; banner oblanceolate, slightly emarginate, 14-15 mm. long; wings shorter, the blade equaling the claw, obliquely oblanceolate, with a rather large auricle; keel-petals still shorter, the blade broadly lunate; pod chartaceous, stipitate, the stipe about 8 mm. long, the body strongly incurved, obliquely ovate, about 2 cm. long, 1-1.5 cm. thick, 8-10 mm. wide, sulcate on both sutures.
Type locality: Ostrander's Ranch, Yosemite Valley, California.
Distribution: Sierra Nevada region, California.

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules membranous or chartaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules connate to each other, forming a tuber or sheath, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Flowers in axillary clusters or few-floweredracemes, 2-6 flowers, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals white, Petals ochroleu cous, cream colored, Banner petal narrow or oblanceolate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens diadelphous, 9 united, 1 free, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Style persistent in fruit, Fruit a legume, Fruit stipitate, Fruit tardily or weakly dehiscent, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit coriaceous or becoming woody, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit inflated or turgid, Fruit beaked, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 11-many seeded, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Astragalus bolanderi is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Bolander's milkvetch. It is native to western Nevada and parts of the Sierra Nevada in California. It grows in dry, rocky habitat on mountain and plateau.