Search / Plant Profile / Astragalus leucolobus

Plant Profile

Big Bear Valley Woollypod (Astragalus leucolobus)

Global Rank: G2 - Imperiled
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Fabaceae
State: CA
Nature Serve ID: 144273
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Astragalus leucolobus is a perennial herb with scattered occurrences across multiple mountain ranges (San Gabriel Mtns, San Bernardino Mtns, San Jacinto Mtns). At elevations between 6500-8000 ft, the Bear Valley Wooly-pod can be found in pebble-plain clearings in Yellow Pine or Pinyon-Juniper woodlands. A. leucolobus grows low to the ground (1-2 ft) into a dense shrub and its fuzzy sepals at the base of its flower especially characterize this species – hence the common name, “wooly-pod.” From these wooly-pods come magenta flowers that bloom during the summer months (May – July). Its habitat preferences do not recover well when disturbed, making A. leucolobus sensitive to most threats such as off-road vehicular activity and urbanization.

Where is Big Bear Valley Woollypod (Astragalus leucolobus) located in the wild?

Habitat:

A. leucolobus are found growing in yellow-pine or pinyon-juniper woodlands at elevations between 6500-8000 ft. In this woodland setting, they prefer pebble-plain clearings where they grow close to the ground.

Distribution:

A. leucolobus are found growing across primarily in San Bernardino County as well as scattered occurrences in Riverside and Los Angeles counties. Within San Bernardino County, populations of A. leucolobus are concentrated in the Big Bear area including Big Bear Lake and Sugarloaf Mountain.

States & Provinces:

Big Bear Valley Woollypod can be found in California

Which CPC Partners conserve Big Bear Valley Woollypod (Astragalus leucolobus)?

California Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 1 accessions of Astragalus leucolobus in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 324 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden has collected 1 seed accessions of Astragalus leucolobus from 1 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 22 maternal plants