Index / Search / Astragalus agrestis

§1 Plant — species · Fabaceae

Astragalus agrestis Douglas ex G. Don

vernacular purple milkvetch


USDA
ASAG2
GBIF
5342849
Rank
species
purple milkvetch (Astragalus agrestis)
Platephotograph · kgbakerCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Astragalus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
175 min.
Precipitation
8–40 in/yr
pH range
6.3–7.7
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
1 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Medium
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Summer
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
120,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
High
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 39 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ASAG2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5342849 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T17:47:28Z