Astragalus atropilosulus

(Hochst.) Bunge

Nachilare

FabaceaeLeavesRoots

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(c) Ali Mohammed Alzahrani, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

iNaturalist · cc-by
(c) Tony KM, some rights reserved (CC BY)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Root, Vegetable

The leaves are used as a side dish and are sometimes mixed with the leaves of Solanum nigrum. The roots are added to hot milk to help a woman having uterine pains after childbirth.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant.

Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia,

Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A herb. It has an erect stem about 1 m high. There are a few branches. The leaves are compound. They are 1-3 cm long. There are 10-15 pairs of leaflets. The flowers are bright yellow. They are in large groups. The pods are small and papery.

Medicinal Uses

A decoction of the roots is added to hot milk and given to women with uterine pains after childbirth. Phytochemical analysis of the whole plant showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, volatile oils and sterols/triterpenes. An ethanolic extract produced a decrease in heart contractions and a fall in blood pressure, neuromuscular blocking activity, and hypernatraemia.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Astragalus atropilosulus is a perennial herb in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Eastern Africa and some parts of the Arabian Peninsula. It is used as a vegetable in Malawi and Kenya.

Notes

There are about 2,000 Astragalus species.

References (7)

Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 80
Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 93
Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint Petersbourg, Sér. 7, 11(16):4. 1868; 15(1):4. 1869
Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 131
Williamson, J., 2005, Useful Plants of Malawi. 3rd. Edition. Mdadzi Book Trust. p 33
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew