Astragalus kahiricus DC.
A. longiflorus Delile
Eng.: Milkvetch. Fre.: Astragale. Ara. (Egypt): Zabb el qott.
Perennial herbaceous plant, 40-80 cm in height, with a woody base, branched from the base, with erect or ascending stems, ridged and hollow, canescent. Leaves 8-25 cm, imparipinnate; with triangular stipules acute or acuminate; rachis 1-2 mm wide, flattened; with 4-9 pairs of leaflets, 1.5-2.5 × 1.2-2 cm, petiolulate, broadly ovate to orbicular, with a truncated or obtuse apex, glabrescent on the upper side and white-pubescent on the underside. Inflorescences in racemes 8-20 cm, with the main axis elongating during fruiting; pedicellate flowers, with pedicel 1-2 mm. Calyx 1.5-1.8 cm, with teeth 3-4 mm, subulate, densely white-tomentose, accrescent and inflated during fruiting —then reaching 2-2.5 cm —. Corolla 2-3 cm, papilionoid, yellow. Androecium diadelphous. Ovary sessile. Pod 0.8-1 cm, ovoid-elliptic, glabrous and transversely ribbed, included in the accrescent calyx, ending in a beak of 2-3 mm, with 4-6 seeds. Seeds 5-6 × 3-4 mm, reniform, brown.
Flowering:
March to June.
Fruiting:
June to September.
Habitat:
Sandy plains.
Distribution:
From Egypt, Israel and Palestine to Pakistan.
Conservation status:
A rare species but widely distributed, not considered threatened. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (Contu, 2012).
