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Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-894
Astragalus
Astragalus membranaceus
Astragalus, or huang qi, is a hardy nitrogen-fixing perennial in the pea family, grown for a thick, sweet-tasting root that is one of the most widely used tonic herbs in East Asian medicine and for its value as a bee-friendly, erosion-controlling ground cover. It stays low and clumping at about 30 cm tall and wide, needs full sun and a dry, well-drained, neutral to mildly alkaline soil, and resents being transplanted once its root system is established. The four-year-old root is dried and used as an immune and energy tonic, and current research shows it does not cause liver injury at typical doses, though animal studies point to a fetal toxicity risk and it may worsen symptoms in people with autoimmune disease or those on immune-suppressing medication.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 7.5–8.2
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 12 in
- Mature spread
- 12 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–15 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- None
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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