Casey and I found this gorgeous little bean at Middle Fork Barren Natural Area in Saline Co., Arkansas and was photographed on May 11, 2021. There are two varieties that this could be: Astragalus distortus var. distortus, or Astragalus d. var. englemannii. We did not take the necessary measurements in the field to determine which variety this was.
This was a beautiful little barren with a lot of slate outcrops. The soils are very shallow and poor and results in dwarf plants that really “behave” themselves. Most plants we came upon were much smaller than their average at the time of flowering.
-OZB
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 