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Astragalus (convallarius)

Hannah Demler
Innovative Restoration Technician
258 Main St Suite 200
Lander, Wyoming 82520
hannah.demler@tnc.org

Family Scientific Name: Fabaceae
Family Common Name: Pea Family
Scientific Name: Astragalus convallarius
Common Name: lesser rushy milkvetch
Species Code: ASCO12
Ecotype: Fremont County, Wyoming
General Distribution: A. convallarius is found throughout the Mountain West of the United States and is commonly found in sagebrush.
Propagation Goal: Plants
Propagation Method: Seed
Propagule Collection: Fruit is a pod. Seed is dark brown in color. Seed is collected when the pods dry out but before they begin to split. Plants do not hold the seed after pods split. Seed pods on a given plant ripen irregularly throughout the late summer, with only a few pods ripening at once on a single plant. Seed was stored in paper or cloth bags at room temperature until cleaned and then vacuum sealed and placed in a freezer for long term storage.

Seeds/lb for this ecotype was ~109,090
Propagule Processing: Seeds have a hard seed coat and exhibit physical dormancy (PY)
Pre-Planting Treatments: Seeds need to be scarified prior to germination. In a germination trial, un-scarified seeds had an average percent germination of only 11.25% after a 28-day incubation at room temperature. Seeds that were scarified by hand with sandpaper displayed 100% germination after a 28-day incubation at room temperature. Seeds were scarified with fine grit sandpaper for 30-90 seconds until seed coat abrasion was observed under a microscope. Subsequent scarification testing indicated that seeds will germinate successfully (>75%) after various mechanical scarification treatments.

A germination trial was also conducted on scarified seeds to determine optimum
germination temperature. Growth chambers were set to three different diurnal
temperature regimes, corresponding to the average temperatures in Fremont county, WY in May, June and July (4/19° C, 9/25° C, or 12/30° C respectively). The highest average germination was obtained after 28 days under the 12/30° C temperature regime, corresponding to average temperatures in July (88% germination).

Citation:

2023. Propagation protocol for production of Astragalus convallarius Plants Lander, Wyoming. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/05/18). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.