Astragalus applegatei

Astragalus applegatei is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Applegate's milkvetch.^[2] Its scientific name is also spelt Astragalus applegatii.^[3] It is endemic to Klamath County, Oregon, where it is known from three populations, one of which is made up of only three plants.^[2] Much of the remaining habitat is seriously threatened by development, introduced plant species, and other forces.^[2] This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.

Applegate's milkvetch
Conservation status
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Astragalus
Species:	A. applegatei
Binomial name
Astragalus applegatei M.Peck
Synonyms
Astragalus applegatii M.Peck, orth. var.

The plant is a perennial herb with clustered or spreading prostrate stems growing from a taproot. It may form mats nearly a metre wide and up to 40 cm tall. The leaves are up to 8 cm long and are each made up of several pairs of leaflets 1 or 2 cm long. The inflorescence is a raceme of nodding flowers. The flower has a cuplike, toothed calyx of sepals coated in black hairs. The corolla is whitish to lavender with purple tips on the petals. The fruit is a purple-mottled legume pod roughly 1 cm long.^[4]

The native habitat of the plant is a seasonally wet floodplain with alkali soils, part of the Klamath Basin.^[1]

The largest of the three populations is on land which is partially owned and protected by The Nature Conservancy, but the other part is vulnerable to development.^[2] The second and third populations are very small and may not survive as they become inbred.^[2] There was once a fourth population, but it was destroyed when its habitat was made into a grocery store and a car dealership.^[2]