Index / Search / Hedysarum alpinum

§1 Plant

Hedysarum alpinum L.

vernacular alpine sweetvetch — species · Fabaceae


USDA
HEAL
GBIF
2949263
Rank
species
alpine sweetvetch (Hedysarum alpinum)
Platephotograph · Donna PomeroyCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

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

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

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

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-62 °F minimum
Frost-free days
120 min.
Precipitation
28–80 in/yr
pH range
6–8
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Dense
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Low
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Summer
Seed abundance
High
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
70,000
Propagation
seed, container, sod
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
High
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/HEAL ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2949263 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z