Astragalus Representative Species

Astragalus angustifolius Lam.

Dense, spiny shrublet forming a cushion to 20 cm. Hairs medifixed. Leaves with 10–24 leaflets. Flowers white to pale yellow, pink or purplish, in 3–14-flowered racemes. Balkans to Turkey and Lebanon.

Astragalus angustifolius forming low, dense hummocks on a scree bed at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (19300547*B). 30 May 2024. Image Tom Christian.

'A dense, spiny shrublet': Astragalus angustifolius on a scree bed at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (19300547*B). 30 May 2024. Image Tom Christian.

Close up of the flowers on Astragalus angustifolius at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (19300547*B). 30 May 2024. Image Tom Christian.

Astragalus clusianus Soldano

Dense subshrub to 40 cm. Leaves variably white-hairy, with 8–16 leaflets. Flowers whitish, sometimes flushed pink, in small axillary clusters. Fruit enclosed by bladder-like inflated calyx which is often pink or red, potentially a highly ornamental feature. Spain.

Astragalus condensatus Ledeb.

Subshrub forming a spiny cushion to 20 cm, densely white-pilose. Leaves with 8–12 leaflets. Flowers pink to purple, in leafy clusters. E Aegean Is., Turkey, S Caucasus.

Astragalus cornutus Pall.

Erect, non-spiny shrub to 60 cm. Leaves with 10–19 narrow leaflets. Flowers pink to purple, sometimes vividly coloured, in terminal racemes. Bulgaria, Turkey to western Siberia.

Astragalus dolinicola (Brullo & Giusso) Brullo & Giusso

Subshrub forming a spiny cushion to 40 cm. Leaves with 12 leaflets. Flowers pink to purple, in small axillary clusters. Crete.

Astragalus flavescens Boiss.

Subshrub forming a spiny cushion to 20 cm. Leaves with 8–12 leaflets. Flowers lilac to pink, in 2–6-flowered racemes. E Turkey, Iraq.

Astragalus granatensis Lam.

Subshrub forming a spiny cushion to 40 cm. Leaves with 8–16 whitish or greyish leaflets. Flowers yellowish, purple veined, in small axillary clusters. Spain, Morocco.

Astragalus gummifer Labill.

Subshrub to 30 cm. Leaves with 8–14 leaflets. Flowers rather indeterminately coloured, whitish, buff, yellowish or pinkish, in 3–4-flowered axillary clusters. Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq.

Astragalus kurdicus Boiss.

Subshrub forming a spiny cushion to 20 cm. Leaves with 8–12 leaflets. Flowers lilac to pink, in 2–6-flowered racemes. E Turkey, Iraq.

Astragalus lagopodioides Lam.

Dwarf spiny shrub. Leaves with 8–18 leaflets. Flowers pink to mauve (perhaps sometimes yellow), in dense terminal racemes made softly furry by long white calyx hairs. C & E Turkey, S Caucasus, Iran.

Astragalus microcephalus Willd.

Densely branched small shrub to 70 cm. Leaves with 8–18 leaflets. Flowers whitish to pinkish, in 3–4-flowered axillary clusters. Bulgaria to Iran.

Astragalus pennatus Bunge

Dense, greyish, hummock-forming shrublet to 25 cm. Leaves with 8–12 prickly-tipped leaflets. Flowers pink to brick-red, in 3–4-flowered axillary clusters towards the stem tips. S Turkey, in high altitude alpine steppe.

Astragalus plumosus Willd.

Subshrub forming a spiny cushion to 15 cm. Leaves with 6–12 leaflets. Flowers pink to purple, in dense terminal racemes. Turkey: widespread in C Anatolia.

Astragalus sempervirens Lam.

Cushion-forming shrublet to 30 cm. Leaves dark green, with 10–20 leaflets. Flowers white to pale purplish or yellow, in leafy clusters towards the stem tips. Mountains of Europe.

Astragalus siculus Biv.

Subshrub forming a densely branched cushion to 30 cm. Leaves with 6–16 leaflets. Flowers white to pink, in 3–4-flowered axillary clusters. Sicily.

Astragalus sirinicus Ten.

Dense, spiny shrublet forming a cushion to 30 cm. Hairs medifixed. Leaves with 14–24 leaflets. Flowers whitish, sometimes purple-tinged, in sessile or shortly-stalked 3–15-flowered racemes. Exposed places in the mountains of Italy and the Balkan Peninsula.

Astragalus tragacantha L.

Subshrub forming a loose, spiny cushion to 30 cm. Hairs medifixed. Leaves with 10–24 leaflets. Flowers white, in 3–8-flowered racemes. S France, Spain, Portugal.