Scientific Family
Fabaceae
Other common names
Aladdin's-slippers
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Annual or perennial
Height
To 2-3/4 inches
Riparian
No
A tufted, grayish, hairy plant with pinnately compound leaves and lavender, pink, or red-violet pea flowers in somewhat elongated flower clusters.
Crescent milkvetch can be distinguished by its pod, which has only 1 chamber and a lower seam that lies in a groove rather than forming a prominent ridge, is 4 to 5 times as long as wide and sickle-shaped. Plant hairs are ax-shaped.
Habitat
Sandy or gravelly soil in deserts, arid grasslands, and among piñon and juniper.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
7000
Flower Characteristics
5-toothed sepals are 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, hairy like the leaves, the tube is 1/4 to 1/2 inch long; Petals are 5-lobed (a banner, 2 wings and 2 keels), lavender, pink, or red-violet, about twice as long as the sepals.
Flower color
Pink-purple, reddish-purple
Flower shape
Irregular
Tubular
Yes
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
June
Flower clusters
Elongated
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems usually several, prostrate or ascending, to 2-3/4 inches, in shade sometimes up to 6 inches. Leaves 3/4 to 4 inches long with about 11 to 21 leaflets. The leaflets are equally hairy on both sides.
Leaf type
Compound
Leaf color
Green, silvery-white
Leaf shape
Round or oval
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
Yes
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Pods are 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches long, 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter, compressed, curved or straight.
Fruit type
Pod