Astragalus (purshii)
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Hannah Demler Innovative Restoration Technician 258 Main St Suite 200 Lander, Wyoming 82520 hannah.demler@tnc.org |
| Family Scientific Name: | Fabaceae | ||
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| Family Common Name: | Pea Family | ||
| Scientific Name: | Astragalus purshii | ||
| Common Name: | Woollypod milkvetch | ||
| Species Code: | ASPU9 | ||
| Ecotype: | Fremont County, Wyoming | ||
| General Distribution: | Astragalus purshii is found throughout British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan in Canada, as well as throughout the western United States. | ||
| Propagation Goal: | Plants | ||
| Propagation Method: | Seed | ||
| Propagule Collection: |
Fruit is a legume pod. A. purshii seed is dark brown to black in color. Seed is collected by harvesting the ripe, hard pods. Plants hold on to ripe pods after seed is ripe and pods take some time to begin to split. Seeds mature uniformly on individual plants throughout late summer. Seed was stored in cloth bags at room temperature until cleaned and then vacuum sealed and placed in a freezer for storage. Seeds/lb for this ecotype was ~122,300 |
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| 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 an imbibition trial seeds were weighed throughout imbibition on moistened filter paper and un-scarified seeds had an average percent mass increase due to water uptake of only 17.8 % percent. Scarified seeds demonstrated an average percent mass increase of 116.7 %, indicating that the scarification treatment sufficiently abraded the seed coat and allowed for seed imbibition. Seeds were scarified with fine grit sandpaper for 30-90 seconds until seed coat abrasion was observed under a microscope. 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 9/25° C temperature regime, corresponding to average temperatures in June. |
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Citation:
2023. Propagation protocol for production of Astragalus purshii Plants Lander, Wyoming. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2025/04/10). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.
