{{Short description|Species of legume}} {{Speciesbox |status = {{TNCStatus}} |status_system = TNC |status_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">{{cite web |last1=NatureServe |title=''Astragalus wetherillii'' |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.143180/Astragalus_wetherillii |access-date=30 April 2024 |location=Arlington, Virginia |date=2024}}</ref> |taxon = Astragalus wetherillii |authority = M.E.Jones |}}
'''''Astragalus wetherillii''''' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name '''Wetherill's milkvetch'''. It is native to Colorado and Utah in the United States.<ref name=ns>[http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Astragalus+wetherillii ''Astragalus wetherillii''.] NatureServe.</ref>
This perennial herb grows from a taproot and a caudex which yields several stems. The stems are partly purplish or reddish in color and are finely hairy. The leaves are green, without the silvery hairs of some other ''Astragalus''. Each leaf is up to 10 centimeters long and is made up of up to 15 leaflets. The flowers are white or lavender-tinted and roughly a centimeter long. The fruit is a legume pod with a single chamber inside. It is green and sometimes purple-speckled.<ref name=decker>{{cite web | last = Decker | first = K. | date = December 20, 2005 | url = http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/astragaluswetherillii.pdf | title = Astragalus wetherillii Jones (Wetherill's milkvetch): A technical conservation assessment | publisher = USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region }}</ref>
This species is found mainly in Colorado, and there is one occurrence in the canyon of the Colorado River in Utah. This has not been surveyed recently but it probably survives in the canyon.<ref name=ns/> It grows in pinyon-juniper woodland habitat, as well as shrublands and desert scrub. It usually grows in open areas on slopes and in arroyos.<ref name=decker/> It may be locally common.<ref name=ns/>
This species is a short-lived perennial but sometimes it lasts only one year before dying. It reproduces by seed. Flowering occurs in May and June.<ref name=decker/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ASWE2 USDA Plants Profile]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q4811311}}
wetherillii Category:Flora of Colorado Category:Flora of Utah