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Cooper's Milkvetch

Astragalus neglectus

Found in lakeshores, riverbanks, shady ravines, calcareous woodlands and barrens, often over dolostone or limestone. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

75
Strong

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 35%

Soil moisture
Somewhat dry to average
Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 4 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.

1 of 4

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond
Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Watauga Falls
Named place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

Moist forests

Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland
Regional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County
Limestone cedar glade. Shown: Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Mason Brock (Masebrock), undated. Public domain. Source record.

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 95 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

14CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Astragalus

  • Abaeis nicippeSleepy Orange, Sleepy Yellow, Erratic Orange
  • Cecropterus bathyllusSouthern Cloudywing
  • Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
  • Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
  • Colias philodiceClouded Sulphur, Clover Butterfly
  • Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
  • Dicymolomia julianalisJulia's Dicymolomia
  • Digrammia eremiataThree-Lined Angle
  • Epargyreus clarusSilver-Spotted Skipper
  • Gesta baptisiaeWild Indigo Duskywing, Baptisia Duskywing
Show all 14
  • Glaucopsyche lygdamusSilvery Blue
  • Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
  • Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
  • Walshia miscecolorellaSweetclover Root Borer Moth
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
7BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Astragalus

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
1Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Astragalus

  • Anthidium clypeodentatum
Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Astragalus

  • Alectoris chukarChukar
  • Centrocercus urophasianusGreater Sage-Grouse
  • Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
  • Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Family not recorded

Conservation status

Virginia rankS2
Global rankNot available
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

In your garden

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Sources