Perennial Plant Profiles...

Astragalus cicer, Cicer Milkvetch

We can think of at least 180 great forest garden & perennial crops for cold climate Sweden.  Want to hear about them? Over the course of the next year we will profile 5 a week on the blog. Perennial plants and crops offer a low energy, oil & resource input based foundation for future-proof agricultures. By default if an agriculture is to be called regenerative the bottom line is that it must be soil building, not soil depleting. Relentless deep tillage & poor soil husbandry (wifery?!) contributes to the majority of the 24 billion tons of topsoil lost every year on planet water.  We are going to be focused on holistic polyculture grazing and perennial production at ridgedale over most of the site as this represents the most effective way to restore our degraded landscape, produce high value produce and ensure the future resource base we are managing holistically for in our decision making. 

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Genus Astragalus 
Species cicer
Common Name cicer milkvetch
Form herb
Habit clumping
Origin Europe
Light sun
Moisture dry to mesic 
Nitrogen HighGroundcover Yes

Cicer milkvetch is a perennial flowering plant native to Eastern Europe, popularized and subsequently transported to areas in Southern Europe, North America, and South America. Cicer milkvetch exhibits legume-like qualities; the plant produces pods in which harbor its seeds. Its flowers are usually of pale yellow tint (sometimes white), and as such, attract bumble or European honey bees for pollination. Growth often exceeds 0.6 meters, up to a height of 1 meter in length.

In general, cicer milkvetch can be seen to grow in the fringes of forests, meadows, and alongside streams; however, it has also been reported that the plant proliferates along roadsides.  It has the capacity to grow in a vast amount soil types and textures, such as clay and sand.

Soils deviating from the 6.0 to 8.1 pH range are also indicative of a less-than-desirable condition for growth.  Despite these few restrictions, Cicer milkvetch persists excellently in less nutrient-rich or disturbed soils.  Drought tolerance is another important aspect in regards to the inherent durability of the plant. In regards to obtaining adequate amounts of nitrogen, cicer milkvetch employs a mutualistic relationship with rhizobia bacteria.

Cicer milkvetch has several principal uses; it can be used for soil stabilization as well as hay or pasture generation, as the plant exhibits non-bloat characteristics for livestock.  We will also use it in a diverse seed mix broadcast into our Keyline tree/ shrub beds as support plants for the primary crops.

Cicer milkvetch is comparative to that of other legumes, in that excellent nutritional value can be obtained from its forage.

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OUR FRIENDS AT PFAF HAVE AN AMAZING DATABASE OF SPECIES (UK BASED);

Astragalus