Astragalus lentiginosus
Astragalus lentiginosus
Safety & Hazards
Many members of this genus contain toxic glycosides[ 65 Title A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Publication Author Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. Publisher Wolfe Year 1984 ISBN 0723408394 Description Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far. ]. A number of species can accumulate toxic levels of selenium when grown in soils that are relatively rich in that element[ 65 Title A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Publication Author Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. Publisher Wolfe Year 1984 ISBN 0723408394 Description Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far. ]. All species with edible seedpods can be distinguished by their fleshy round or oval seedpod that looks somewhat like a greengage.[ 85 Title Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. Publication Author Harrington. H. D. Publisher University of New Mexico Press Year 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9 Description A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants. ]
Botanical Description
Astragalus lentiginosus is a herbaceous, perennial plant growing 15 - 60cm tall from a taproot. The plant was a favoured food of various native N. American tribes, and is still sometimes harvested from the wild for local use. Astragalus lentiginosus has a wide distribution range. There are no major known threats to the species as a whole and the population is believed to be stable. The plant is, however, polymorphic and up to 40 distinct forms have been described - some of these are highly localized and threatened due to habitat disturbance, agriculture expansion and livestock. Overall, the plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].