Woolly Locoweed at Walker Ranch

Woolly locoweed (astragalus mollissimus) is a beautiful but poisonous member of the pea family found in most of the central western states. Because of its toxicity to cattle, between 1881 to 1885 the State of Colorado paid a $21-per-ton bounty on locoweed dug up at least three inches below the soil. After $200,000 had been spent on bounties, they repealed the law. It is one of the early bloomers we see on the Walker Ranch Open Space trail.