Astragalus megacarpus

Astragalus megacarpus commonly known as the great bladdery milkvetch is a vascular plant. A vascular plant has a system of tubes for transporting water from its roots to its leaves without the use of woody tissue for support. Another characteristic of this plant is that it is a perennial dicot. Perennial refers to the fact that the plant lives for more than two growing seasons, and dies back after each year. Dicot refers to the fact that the plant has two seed leaves when it germinates. This particular plant can be located in Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming generally between 1,630 to 3,030 meters. This plant grows to 5 - 17 cm tall with pink-purple or white flowers that bloom in the spring. The great bladdery milkvetch grows best in sandy soils with plenty of sun. The seeds are deposited in the spring and require 1 -3 months for germination, preferably in temperatures of 10 - 13C.

This plant is known primarily for its medicinal uses. The entire astragalus family is used to make supplements that improve the immune system, increase effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for cancer, and to improve the circulation of blood within the body. Figure 3 shows the roots of this plant; from here one can get the milkvetch extract which is thought to provide the health benefits which were previously mentioned.

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Figure 1. Picture of Astrgalus megacarpus.


Figure 2. Distribution of Astragalus megacarpus (*no link)


Figure 3. Roots 40-80 cm long. (*no link)