E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Astragalus cicer L.
chick-pea milk-vetch (cicer milkvetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Bryan Kelly-McArthur  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #66157)

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Distribution of Astragalus cicer
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb from subterranean, rhizome-like branches of a buried stem-base; stems several, erect, 30-70 cm tall, loosely clustered and branched, with short, soft, appressed, unbranched hairs.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound, nearly unstalked, 5-20 cm long; leaflets 17 to 29, elliptic to oblong, mostly 1-2 cm long, short-appressed-hairy on both surfaces; stipules lanceolate, 2-8 mm long, the lower fused into a sheath, the upper often free.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a dense, axillary raceme of (6) 10 to 30 ascending, pea-like flowers, the racemes 2-6 cm long, on stalks 4-10 cm long; corollas yellowish-white, 10-15 mm long, the almost straight erect banner 1-2 mm longer than the wings which are longer than the blunt keel; calyces usually dark-hairy, 6-9 mm long, the lanceolate teeth 1/3 to 1/2 as long as the bell-shaped tube.
Fruits:
Pods, egg- to globe-shaped, short-stalked, 7-15 mm long, inflated, narrowly beaked at the tip, short stiff-hairy, becoming stiff-papery or somewhat leathery, 2-chambered.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Early Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Yellow
Present over the Summer
Source:  The USDA

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry roadsides in the lowland, montane and steppe zones; infrequent in S BC; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

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General References