Relatives
Astragalus uliginosus L. - Fen Milk-vetch.
Taxonomic position.
Family Fabaceae Lindl., genus Astragalus L.Synonyms.
Astragalus nertschinskensis Freyn.Morphology and biology.
Perennial 30-85 cm tall. Stems erect, usually few, sparsely adpressedly hairy. Leaves up to 18 cm long, with 10-13 pairs of oblong-elliptic leaflets 2-4 cm long, with very short cusp, glabrous above, adpressedly shortly hairy beneath. Peduncled together with inflorescences subequal to leaves in length. Flowers numerous, lower ones drooping, in dense oblong cylindrical racemes, pale greenish-yellow, sometimes turning red after flowering. Pods sessile, oblong-ovate, 10-15 mm long, directed obliquely upright, coriaceous, glabrous, bilocular. Cross-pollinated entomophilous plant. Flowers in June - July, fruits in July - August. 2n=16.Distribution.
Forest and forest-steppe zones of Siberia, Kazakhstan and Far East.Ecology.
Typical mesophyte. In flood-plain forest meadows, less often steppified meadows, in river valleys, fringes of dark-coniferous forests, at riversides.Economic value.
Forage plant. Protein content in dry substance 26.6%, cellulose content 23.2%. Satisfactorily eaten by animals.References:
Pavlov NV., ed. 1961. Flora of Kazakhstan. V.2. Alma-Ata. 515 p. (In Russian).Shishkin BK., ed. 1946. Flora URSS. V.12. Moscow; Leningrad. 919 p. (In Russian).
Polozhij AV., Malyshev LI., ed. 1994. Flora of Siberia. V.9. Fabaceae (Leguminosae). Novosibirsk: Nauka. 280 p. (In Russian).
Malyshev LI., Peshkova GA., eds. 1979. Flora of the Central Siberia. V.2. 506 p. (In Russian).
Roskov YR. et al. 2005. ILDIS World Database of Legumes. [Online] Available at: http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb?sciname=Astragalus%20uliginosus .