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| ## canadian milkvetch {#canadian-milkvetch .Title-Header}             |
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| *Astragalus canadensis* L.                                            |
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| Plant Symbol = ASC11                                                  |
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##### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center*

# Alternate Names

Canada milk-vetch, Canada milkvetch

# Uses

*Ethnobotanic:* The Blackfoot, who dug them in the spring for eating
(Kindscher 1987), gathered Canadian milkvetch roots. Canadian milkvetch
was often used in a broth (Moerman 1998).

*Medical*: The root is analgesic and antihaemorrhagic and can be chewed
or used as a tea to treat chest and back pains, coughs and spiting up of
blood (Moerman 1998). A poultice made from the chewed root has also been
used to treat cuts (Ibid.).

# Status

# Please consult the Plants Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status and wetland indicator values. 

# Description

*General*: Bean family (Fabaceae). Canadian milkvetch (*Astragalus
canadensis*) is a smooth, stout-stemmed plant that grows up to five feet
tall (Ladd 1995). The leaves are smooth; elliptic to oblong, with
thirteen to thirty-one stalked leaflets that are one to two inches long.
The flowers are greenish white to cream colored, with a regular pea
flower shape, located at the ends of long stalks. The fruit is a smooth,
erect, stout, woody pod, twelve to fifteen millimeters long and divided
into two cells (Vance, Jowsey, & McLean 1984).

*Distribution*: *Astragalus canadensis* ranges from Quebec and Vermont
to Hudson Bay and British Columbia, south to Virginia, West Virginia,
Arkansas, Texas and Colorado (Steyermark 1963). For current
distribution, please consult the Plant profile page for this species on
the PLANTS Web site.

# Adaptation

Canadian milkvetch is commonly found in dry prairies, moist shores,
riverbanks, marshy grounds and open or partly shaded ground (Voss 1985).
This species requires a well-drained soil in a sunny position. It has
low tolerance of root disturbance and cannot tolerate extremely cold
weather.

# Establishment

*Propagation by Seed*: Canadian milkvetch seeds should be sown in a cold
frame as soon as they are ripe. Seeds should be pre-soaked for
twenty-four hours in hot water before sowing. Germination can be slow
but is usually within four to nine weeks if the seeds are sown fresh.
When they are large enough to handle, place the seedlings into
individual pots and grow plant them in the greenhouse for their first
winter. Plant them into their permanent positions in spring or early
summer.

# Management

Canadian milkvetch looks similar to some closely related poisonous
locoweeds, so its use is not recommended unless positive identification
can be made (Kindscher 1987). Many members of this genus contain a
poison that affects cattle (Fielder 1975). They become affected with a
sort of insanity, a slow poisoning that can cause death within a period
of months or even a year or two (Ibid).

# Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Materials are somewhat available from native plant seed vendors. Contact
your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government". The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

# References

Braun, L.E. 1967. *The monocotyledoneae from cat-tails to orchids*. The
Ohio State University Press, Columbus, Ohio.

Britton, N.L. & A. Brown 1970. *An illustrated flora of the northern
United States and Canada*. Dover Publications, New York, New York.

Bruggen, T. V. 1976. *The vascular plants of South Dakota*. The Iowa
State University Press, Ames, Iowa.

Fielder, M. 1975. *Plant medicine and folklore*. Winchester Press, New
York, New York.

Gleason, H. A. & A. Cronquist 1993. *Manual of vascular plants of
northeastern United States and adjacent Canada*. 2^nd^ ed. The New York
Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.

Kindscher, K. 1987. *An ethnobotanical guide: edible wild plants of the
prairie*. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

Moerman, D. 1998. *Native American ethnobotany*. Timber Press, Portland,
Oregon.

Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, & C.R. Bell 1968. *Manual of the vascular
flora of the Carolinas*. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel
Hill, North Carolina.

Straughbaugh, P. D. & E. L. Core 1977. *Flora of West Virginia*. 2^nd^
ed. Seneca Books, Inc., Morgantown, West Virginia.

The Great Plains Flora Association 1986. *Flora of the Great Plains*.
University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

Tiner, R.W. Jr. 1987. *A field guide to coastal wetland plants of the
northeastern United States*. The University of Massachusetts Press,
Amherst, Massachusetts.

Voss, E.G. 1972. *Michigan flora*. Cranbrok Institute of Science,
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, & University of Michigan Herbarium.

# Prepared By

#### Lincoln M. Moore

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

# Baton Rouge, Louisiana

# Species Coordinator

*Lincoln M. Moore*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edited: 05apr02 ahv; 25feb03 ahv; 31may06jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases
apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
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large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA\'s [TARGET
Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
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*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
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*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
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