Timber Milk-vetch
Astragalus miser
Pea family (Fabaceae)
Timber Milkvetch is a highly variable species. In spite of its common name, Timber Milkvetch commonly inhabits open sites at upper elevations. This plant contains miserotoxin, which can cause and chronic toxicity in cattle and sheep. Honeybees that forage on Timber Milkvetch flowers have also been poisoned.
tapering to a point with straight sides, as in an upside down V.
compressed -- flattened lengthwise, either laterally (from side to side) or dorsally (from front to back).
oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom
A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.
fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.
In a pea flower the two bottom petals are fused together forming a boat-like structure called the keel. The glumes of grasses may have a sharp projecting ridge like the keel of a boat.
leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.
leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.
stipule -- A leaf-like structure that occurs where the leaf joins the stem; stipules often occur in pairs.