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Astragalus hamosus

Common name:		Family:	Leguminosae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	50
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	Many members of this genus contain toxic glycosides[65]. All species with edible seedpods can be distinguished by their fleshy round or oval seedpod that looks somewhat like a greengage[85]. A number of species can also accumulate toxic levels of selenium when grown in soils that are relatively rich in that element[65].
Range:	Europe - Mediterranean to Armenia, Ukraine and the Caucasus.
Habitat:	Dry grassland[45]. Semidesert areas in foothills and the low montane belt, on clay, loess, sand and rock debris[261].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. brachyceras[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Devil'S Claws [E], Grainah [E], Milkvetch [P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fabales. Renamed to Fabaceae -- Pea family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Iraq

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.6m by 0.45m . . It is in flower from May to July, and the seeds ripen from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees and Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Seedpod.

Young seedpods - cooked[2, 105, 177]. They quickly become tough and fibrous[K]. The young seedpods are also used in salads. They have only a mediocre taste, but look very much like certain worms and so are used mainly for their novelty value[2].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Demulcent Emollient Galactogogue Laxative.

The plant is demulcent, emollient, galactogogue and laxative[240]. It is useful in treating irritation of the mucous membranes, nervous affections and catarrh[240].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a dry well-drained soil in a sunny position[1]. Grows well in &ndndndnd[K].
Plants are intolerant of root disturbance and are best sown in situ[200].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[200]. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen.
Many members of this genus can be difficult to grow, this may be due partly to a lack of their specific bacterial associations in the soil[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow late winter in a greenhouse. Pre-soak the seed for 24 hours in warm water. If any seed does not swell up in this time then carefully prick it with a needle making sure that you do not damage the embryo, and re-soak for a further 24 hours. Germination usually takes place within 3 - 6 weeks at 13° c[134, 200]. As soon as it is large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in early summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[45] Polunin. O. Flowers of Greece and the Balkans. Oxford University Press 1980 ISBN 0-19-217626-9
A good pocket flora, it also lists quite a few plant uses.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[134] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan. 1988
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[261] Yakovlev. G. Sytin. A. & Roskov. Yu. Legumes of Northern Eurasia Royal Botanic gardens, Kew. 1996 ISBN 0-947643-97-4
For the academic only, a list of species growing in N. Eurasia with terse details on habitat, range, uses etc.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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