Astragalus nuttallii (Torr. & A. Gray) Howell

Phaca unde Rydberg, sp. nov
Peiennial, with underground woody stems; blanches decumbent or ascending, about 2 dm. high; leaves numerous, more or less arcuate, 3-6 cm. long, the rachis villous; stipules scarious, 5-6 mm. long, lance-deltoid; leaflets 13-31, crowded, obovate, usually retuse at the apex, 5-12 mm. long, white-villous with curved short hairs; peduncles 3-6 dm. long; racemes 3-5 cm. long; bracts subulate, 2-3 mm. long, about equaling the pedicels; flowers drooping; calyx whitevillous, the tube eampanulate, 3-3.5 mm. long, the teeth deltoid, 1 mm. long; corolla ochroleucous, 10-12 mm. long; banner obovate, arched above the middle; wings nearly as long, the blade slightly falcate, oblong, with a large auricle; keel-petals as long, similar but broader, rounded at the apex; pod obliquely ovoid, about 3 cm. long and 1.5 cm. wide, more ventricose on the lower suture, sparingly villous, at least when young.
Type collected at " Walla Walla, Washington " [but more likely southern California], C. L. Shear 5625 (U. S. Nat. Herb. No. S35452).
Distribution: Southern California and [?| Washington.

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems prostrate, trailing, or mat forming, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Stem hairs hispid to villo us, 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, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals white, Petals ochroleucous, cream colored, Petals greenish yellow, 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 unilocular, Fruit tardily or weakly dehiscent, Fruit oblong or ell ipsoidal, 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 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.