Astragalus

Also known as rattle-pod, locoweed, poison-vetch, kozinec, milk-vetch

genus of plants

OverviewAI-generated

Astragalus is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is also referred to by common names such as milkvetch, قتاد, Gəvən, and Куравай. The taxon has been described in sources including the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary and Gujin Tushu Jicheng.

Specimens of this genus have been recorded in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The plant has been introduced to Massachusetts, New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia. Various institutions, including the University of Alberta Museums, BRIT, COLO, UT, and INECOL, hold records related to the genus.

Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, Encyclopedia of Life, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

FamilyFabaceae

Native toAfghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, Aleutian Is., Algeria, Altay, Amur, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South

Tragacantha là một chi thực vật có hoa trong họ Đậu.

via · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 12,020
With media: 8,325
Family: Fabaceae
Collections: UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA MUSEUMS, BRIT, COLO, UT, INECOL, GH
Recorded in: Canada, United States, Mexico

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Research

14,275 papers

Review of the botanical characteristics, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Astragalus membranaceus (Huangqi).ReviewPhytotherapy research : PTR · 2014Fu J, Wang Z, Huang L et al.DOI: 10.1002/ptr.5188
Astragalus polysaccharide as a potential antitumor immunomodulatory drug (Review).ReviewMolecular medicine reports · 2025Qin ZT, Wu ZH, Wang CM et al.DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2025.13706
Astragalus polysaccharides: structure-immunomodulation relationships, multi-target pharmacological activities, and cutting-edge applications in immune modulation.ReviewFrontiers in immunology · 2025Wang B, Wu B, Ma Y et al.DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1714898
Research progress of Astragalus membranaceus in treating peritoneal metastatic cancer.ReviewJournal of ethnopharmacology · 2023Li Z, Qi J, Guo T et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2022.116086
Astragalus species: Phytochemistry, biological actions and molecular mechanisms underlying their potential neuroprotective effects on neurological diseases.ReviewPhytochemistry · 2022Abd Elrahim Abd Elkader HT, Essawy AE, Al-Shami ASDOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2022.113293
The inhibitory effect of Astragalus flavone extract on hyperuricemia and its underlying molecular mechanism by targeting JNK/AP-1/NLRP3/IL-1β signaling pathway.Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology · 2025Xia H, He W, Lv C et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2025.156622
Turkish Astragalus Species: Botanical Aspects, Secondary Metabolites, and Biotransformation.ReviewPlanta medica · 2025Ekiz Dinçman G, Aytaç Z, Çalış İDOI: 10.1055/a-2444-3252
Astragalus.ReviewAlternative therapies in health and medicine · 2002McKenna D, Hughes K, Jones K

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Encyclopedic overview

Fruits and seeds of Astragalus hamosus

Astragalus is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names include milkvetch (most species), locoweed (in North America, some species) and goat's-thorn (A. gummifer, A. tragacantha). Some pale-flowered vetches (Vicia spp.) are similar in appearance, but they are more vine-like than Astragalus.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Astragalus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.