Astragalus austinae A. Gray

Astragalus austinae A. Gray, Bot. Calif. 1: 156. 1876
Tragacanlha Austinae Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 943. 1891.
A perennial, with a cespitose woody caudex; stems numerous, ascending, less than 1 dm. high, densely white-villous; leaves 2-4 cm. long, ascending; stipules canescent, broadly ovate or deltoid, 3-5 mm. long; leaflets 7-11, elliptic or oblanceolate, mostly acute, 4-6 mm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, densely canescent with appressed hairs; peduncles 2-5 cm. long; racemes dense, about 2 cm. long; bracts lanceolate, 3-5 mm. long; flowers subsessile, spreading; calyx villous, the tube 5 mm: long and 3 mm. broad, the teeth subulate, 3 mm. long; corolla purple, about 1 cm. long; banner obovate, villous without; wings slightly shorter, the blade oblanceolate, rather strongly falcate, as long as the claw, with an acute basal auricle; keel-petals shorter, the blade shorter than the claw, broadly lunate, almost semiorbicular; pod densely villous, about 7 mm. long, 3 mm. wide and thick, ovoid, slightly sulcate on the lower suture.
Type locality: Mount Stanford (Castle Peak). Nevada County, California. Distribution : Sierra Nevada, California and western Nevada.