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Fabaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Hedysarum alpinum

Hedysarum alpinum

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Hedysarum alpinum is primarily a plant of boreal or northern temperate climates where day lengths can range from periods of permanent dark in winter to 24 hours of light in the summer. It can tolerate very low temperatures - in some parts of its range the winter temperatures average -12°c, with absolute lows considerably lower. Summers are cool, often averaging no more than 12°c. The climate can be dry, as low as 119mm in some areas, whilst 711mm in just 48 hours has also been recorded[1]. Prefers a sunny position, but also succeeds in light shade[1]. Easily grown in ordinary garden soil, preferring a deep well-drained sandy loam[2, 3]. Plants are often found on dry to moist soils with a high pH in the wild[4, 1]. Plants are tolerant of occasional inundation of the soil[1]. Plants can succeed in soils with a pH ranging from 4.5 - 8.4[1]. Plants strongly resent root disturbance and should be placed in their permanent positions as soon as possible[2]. The var. Hedysarum alpinum americanum. Michx. is the variety used for food[5, 6]. 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[3].

Propagation

Seed - sow in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe or in the spring[3]. Stored seed benefits from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination[1]. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing[PFAF]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer. Division in spring. Great care is needed since the plant dislikes root disturbance[3]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Hedysarum+alpinum>

Pollinators

Bees, Insects

References

  1. [1]Fire Effects Information System — http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/ ↩︎An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
  2. [2]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · 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.
  4. [4]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  5. [5]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · 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.
  7. [7]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  8. [8]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  9. [9]Food Plants in the Americas: A Survey of the Domesticated, Cultivated, and Wild Plants Used for Human Food in North, — Kermath B.M.; Bennett B.C.' Pulsipher L.M. · 2014 ↩︎A pre-publication draft of an amazing, on-going work first started in 1985. It contains information on more than 3,900 taxa from the Americas - from Arctic regions to the Tropics
  10. [10]Rational use of Hedysarum L., growing in Samara Oblast — Popova I.A.; Plaksina T.I.; Kurkin V.A.; Ryzhov V.M.; Tarase · 2012 ↩︎
  11. [11]Gray's Manual of Botany.Eighth Edition — Fernald. M. L. · American Book Co.; New York · 1950 · ISBN 0442222505 ↩︎A bit dated but a good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.
  12. [12]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of 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.
  13. [13]Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. — Schofield. J. J. · Alaska Northwest Books; Alaska · 2003 · ISBN 0882403699 ↩︎A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.
  14. [14]Pharmacological properties of the new antiviral preparation alpizarin (in Russian) — Sokolov SIa, Belova LF, Baginskaia AI, Leskova TE, Gorodniuk · 1988 ↩︎
  15. [15]Phytochemicals and biological studies of plants in genus Hedysarum — Yinmao Dong, Dongyan Tang, Na Zhang, Yue Li, Chunhong Zhang, · 2013 · http://journal.chemistrycentral.com/content/7/1/124 ↩︎
  16. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎