SPECIES INFORMATION 

 A. CLASSIFICATION 



1. SCIENTIFIC NAME: Astragalus barrii Barneby. 



2. COMMON NAME: Barr's milkvetch. 



3. FAMILY: Fabaceae (= Leguminosae ; Pea Family). 



4. GENUS: Astragalus barrii is one of 

 approximately 2,000 species in the large genus 

 Astragalus . Within in this genus, Astragalus 

 barrii belongs to the Orophaca group, section 

 Sericoleuci (Barneby, 1964). According to Barneby 

 (1964) this group contains 7 species, all of which 

 occur in the Rocky Mountain states. Three of 

 these, (A. gilvif lorus , A. hyalinus and A. 

 aretioides ) also occur in Montana. 



5. SPECIES: Astragalus barrii was first described 

 by R. C. Barneby in 1956. He was given specimens 

 of the plant that were originally labeled A. 

 tridactylicus but which he then determined to 

 represent a new species. The two are 

 superficially similar in appearance, both in 

 flower color and vegetative form. However, 

 according to Barneby (1956), "the gap between the 

 two (species) is sharply marked geographically and 

 morphologically". Astragalus tridactyl icus is 

 restricted to southern Wyoming and Colorado in 

 contrast to A- barrii which had a more northerly 

 distribution and has stipules that are dorsally 

 pubescent. 



B. PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



1. FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: Astragalus 



barrii is currently included in Category 2 of 

 the, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Notice of 

 Review, and is under consideration for 

 federal listing as a threatened species (U.S. 

 Department of Interior, 1985) . Category 2 

 taxa are those "for which information now in 

 possession of the Service indicates that 

 proposing to list them as endangered or 

 threatened species is possibly appropriate, 

 but for which substantial data on biological 

 vulnerability and threat(s) are not currently 

 known or on file to support the immediate 

 preparation of rules". Species in this 



