Astragalus (As-trá-ga-lus) is a large genus of about 2,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names include milk-vetch (most species), locoweed (in western US) and goat's-thorn (A. gummifera, A. tragacanthus). Some pale-flowered vetches are similar in appearance, but vetches are more vine-like.
Host for insects
Astragalus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the following case-bearers of the genus Coleophora: C. astragalella (feeds exclusively on A. glycyphyllos), C. cartilaginella (feeds exclusively on Astragalus), C. colutella, C. euryaula (feeds exclusively on Astragalus), C. gallipennella (feeds exclusively on A. glycyphyllos), C. hippodromica (feeds exclusively on A. gombo), C. onobrychiella (feeds exclusively on Astragalus), C. polonicella (feeds exclusively on A. arenarius) and C. vicinella.
Medicinal use
Astragalus propinquus (also known as Astragalus membranaceus) has a history of use as an herbal medicine, and the biotechnology firms Geron Corporation and TA Sciences have been working on deriving a telomerase activator from it.
Ornamental use
Several species, including A. alpinus (bluish-purple flowers), A. hypoglottis (purple flowers) and A. lotoides, are grown as ornamental plants in gardens.Selected species
(See external references)- Astragalus adsurgens - Standing milk-vetch
- Astragalus agrestis - Field milk vetch, Purple milk-vetch, Cock's-head
- Astragalus alopecuroides
- Astragalus alpinus - Alpine milk vetch
- Astragalus angustifolius
- Astragalus annularis
- Astragalus arenarius
- Astragalus aristatus
- Astragalus atropilosulus
- Astragalus azizi
- Astragalus baionensis
- Astragalus barrii - Barr's milk vetch
- Astragalus bibullatus - Limestone-glade milk-vetch
- Astragalus bisulcatus - Two-groove milk-vetch
- Astragalus boeticus
- Astragalus canadensis - Canadian milk-vetch
- Astragalus centralpinus
- Astragalus christianus
- Astragalus cicer - Wild Lentil, Chickpea milk-vetch
- Astragalus coccineus - Scarlet milk-vetch
- Astragalus crassicarpus (caryocarpus) - Ground-plum, Buffalo Plum
- Astragalus danicus
- Astragalus debequaeus - Debeque milk-vetch
- Astragalus depressus
- Astragalus echinus
- Astragalus eriocarpus
- Astragalus exscapus
- Astragalus frigidus - American milk-vetch, Arctic milk-vetch
- Astragalus galegiformis
- Astragalus gilviflorus - Plains milk-vetch, Plains orophaca
- Astragalus glycyphyllos - Wild Liquorice, Licorice milk-vetch
- Astragalus gummifera
- Astragalus hypoglottis - Field milk-vetch, Purple milk-vetch, Cock's-head
- Astragalus illyricus Illirian milk-vetch
- Astragalus lemmonii - Lemmon's milk-vetch
- Astragalus lentiginosus - Freckled milk-vetch
- Astragalus leontinus
- Astragalus lusitanicus
- Astragalus lotoides
- Astragalus massiliensis
- Astragalus missouriensis - Missouri milk-vetch
- Astragalus monspessulanus
- Astragalus naturitensis - Naturita milk-vetch
- Astragalus newberryi - Newberry's milk-vetch
- Astragalus norvegicus
- Astragalus nuttallii - Nuttall's milk-vetch
- Astragalus onobrychis
- Astragalus penduliflorus
- Astragalus propinquus (membranaceus) - Huang qi
- Astragalus purshii - Pursh's milk-vetch, Woolly-pod milk-vetch
- Astragalus sclerocarpus - Sicklepod milk-vetch
- Astragalus sempervirens
- Astragalus shinanensis
- Astragalus shiroumaensis
- Astragalus sirinicus
- Astragalus spatulatus - Tufted milk-vetch, Draba milk-vetch
- Astragalus tennesseensis - Tennessee milk vetch
- Astragalus trichopodus - Santa Barbara milk-vetch
- Astragalus tridactylus - Foothill milk-vetch
- Astragalus tragacanthus
- Astragalus vogelii
External references
- Astragalus
- Astralagus information
- Large list of species
- Very large list of species (with synonyms)
- Astragalus at a Glance This fact sheet from the U.S. National Institutes of Health provides basic information about astragalus--common names, uses, potential side effects, and resources for more information.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Sunday July 13, 2008 at 15:46:33 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.