Astragalus glycyphyllus

Wild liquorice, Milk Wetch

FabaceaeLeavesRootsSpice/Beverage

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) pougeon, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Антон Гладилин, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Roots, Leaves, Leaves - tea

The liquorice-flavoured leaves are eaten fresh or used for tea. The seeds are ground into a coffee substitute. The roots are also edible.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It grows on chalky soils. It is resistant to drought and frost. It suits hardiness zones 4-8.

Albania, Australia, Britain, Czech Republic, Europe*, Italy, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Middle East, North America, USA,

Countries: Andorra, United Arab Emirates, Antigua & Barbuda, Albania, Austria, Australia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Bahamas, Belarus, Belize, Canada, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Grenada, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Croatia, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, St Kitts & Nevis, Kuwait, Lebanon, St Lucia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Panama, Poland, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, El Salvador, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Ukraine, United States, St Vincent, Yemen

How to Identify

A small herb. It grows to 30 cm to 1 m tall and wide. The stem lies along the ground and is woolly. The leaves have leaflets along the stalk. The leaves are 20 cm long with 9-13 oval leaflets. The flowers are bell shaped and cream. They are in dense long clusters. The fruit are pointed capsules. These are cylinder shaped and slightly curved.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown by seed.

Medicinal Uses

The leaves are used for tea.

Notes

There are 2,000 Astragalus species.

Names & Synonyms

Sgrizia

Several

References (9)

Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 46
Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 113
Gouldstone, S., 1983, Growing your own Food-bearing Plants in Australia. Macmillan p 194
Jackes, D. A., Edible Forest Gardens
Mabey, R., 1973, Food for Free. A Guide to the edible wild plants of Britain, Collins. p 67
Mattalia, G., et al, 2012, Traditional uses of wild food and medicinal plants among Brigasc, Kye ́, and Provenc ̧al communities on the Western Italian Alps. Genet Resour Crop Evol. Springer
Middleditch, B. S., 1991, Kuwaiti Plants: Distribution, Traditional Medicine, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and Economic Value. Studies in Plant Science, 2. Elsevier p 13
Simkova, K. et al, 2014, Ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants used in the Czech Republic. Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality 88, 49-67
Sp. pl. 2:758. 1753