Mojave milkvetch facts for kids

Astragalus mohavensis, also known as the Mojave milkvetch, is a type of plant. It grows naturally in the Mojave Desert. This desert covers parts of California and Nevada in the United States. The Mojave milkvetch is part of a larger group of plants called milkvetch.

What Does the Mojave Milkvetch Look Like?

This plant can be either an annual or a perennial. An annual plant lives for only one year. A perennial plant lives for more than two years. The Mojave milkvetch grows in small, grayish-green clumps. Its stems can reach up to 35 centimeters (about 14 inches) long.

Its leaves are also quite long, up to 12 centimeters (about 5 inches). Each leaf is made up of many smaller, oval or round-shaped leaflets.

When the plant blooms, it produces pretty pinkish-purple flowers. There can be up to 15 flowers on one stem. Each flower is about 1 centimeter (less than half an inch) long.

After the flowers, the plant grows a fruit. This fruit is a hairy, leathery pod. These pods can be up to 3 centimeters (about 1.2 inches) long. They are a type of legume, like a pea pod.

Different Kinds of Mojave Milkvetch

There are two main types, or varieties, of the Mojave milkvetch.

One rare type is called A. m. var. hemigyrus. It is also known as the halfring milkvetch. This special variety can only be found in Nevada today. It used to grow in California, but it is no longer found there. Scientists say it has been "extirpated" from California, meaning it disappeared from that area.

You can tell the halfring milkvetch apart from the more common type by its seed pods. The halfring milkvetch has curved or coiled seed pods. The more common variety has straighter pods.