Deseret Milkvetch

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems very short, acaulescent or subacaulescent, Stems prostrate, trailing, or mat forming, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stem hairs hispid to villous, Stems hairs pilose or spreading, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules membranous or chartace ous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 5-9, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence umbel-like or subumbellate, 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 bicolored or with red, purple or yellow streaks or spots, 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 unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit tardily or weakly dehiscent, Fruit oblong or el lipsoidal, Fruit strongly curved, falcate, bent, or lunate, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit beaked, Fruit hairy, Fruit 11-many seeded, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Astragalus desereticus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Deseret milkvetch. It is endemic to Utah County, Utah, where it is known from only one population. It was thought to be extinct until 1981 when this population was discovered. The population contains 5,000 to 10,000 plants on an area of land covering less than 300 acres. It is vulnerable to damage from grazing cattle, which eat the plant and trample the soil, and from development and erosion. This is a federally listed threatened species.

This is a perennial herb with a short stem growing from a woody taproot and caudex unit. The leaves are up to 12 centimeters long and are made up of several leaflets up to 1.4 centimeters long. The foliage is coated in silvery-white hairs that make the plant pale in color. The inflorescence is a raceme of 5 to 10 flowers. Each is about 2 centimeters long and pinkish purple with darker tips on the petals. The fruit is a hairy legume pod about a centimeter long. The plant reproduces sexually by seed and cannot reproduce vegetatively.

This plant only occurs in the woodlands around Birdseye, Utah. Its numbers are thought to have increased in recent years, and the threats to its existence are not as severe as once reported, so the plant was proposed for removal from the Endangered Species List in 2017.