Astragalus Chickpea

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Video: Astragalus Chickpea

Video: Astragalus Chickpea
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Astragalus Chickpea
Astragalus Chickpea
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Astragalus chickpea (lat. Astragalus cicer) - a large herbaceous perennial plant of the genus Astragalus (lat. Astragalus), belonging to the legume family (lat. Fabaceae). The plant's perenniality is supported by a powerful root system, which grows horizontally from year to year. To help the rhizome, the plant gives birth to seeds with a tough and dense shell that protects them from the vicissitudes of the weather and excessive moisture. Such reliable protection allows the seeds to wait a long time in the wings to bring new plants to the surface of the earth. Pale yellow flowers form large inflorescences. Astragalus chickpea is grown as an ornamental and medicinal plant.

What's in your name

The specific epithet "cicer" (chickpea) was assigned to this species for the external similarity of the general appearance of the plant and strong seeds, covered with a leathery strong shell, with the appearance and seeds of a plant called "Chickpea", or "Chickpea" (Latin Cicer arietinum), which is a relative of the legume family. Chickpea seeds are a popular food staple in the Middle East.

Description

Nature has awarded Astragalus chickpea with very tenacious hardy creeping roots. They grow continuously underground, spreading horizontally and filling large areas. This makes the plant more energetic and powerful from year to year.

Powerful roots show a large plant on the surface of the earth, reaching a height of 80-100 centimeters. The rising or spreading stems of Astragalus chickpea have a thin, short-hairy cover.

Well-visible stipules, fused at the base, green in color and triangular or oblong lanceolate, also pubescent with hairs and provided with cilia along the edge of the leaf plate. The leaves of the plant are traditionally complex, consisting of alternating pairs of leaves. There are from 10 to 15 such oblong-lanceolate pairs on a common petiole. The leaves are covered with scattered hairs on both sides, sometimes the top of the leaves can be almost naked.

To match a large plant and pale yellow flowers up to 16 centimeters long. They gather on hairy peduncles in large and dense inflorescences, numbering from 15 to 60 flowers. Corollas of moth flowers are protected by a 5-lobed bell-shaped hairy calyx with subulate teeth in the upper part. Flowering lasts for the first two summer months.

The fruiting pale yellow bean pod, which turns black at full maturity, contains seeds covered with a thick leathery shell. It protects the seed embryo from microbial invasion and reduces the seed's ability to absorb moisture. This makes the seeds very resistant, which allows them to be stored for a long time, remaining dormant. In order for the seeds to germinate, mechanical action on the shell is required to break its integrity. Seeds, in addition to perennial roots, contribute to the reproduction of Astragalus chickpea.

Usage

Although Astragalus chickpea is inferior in quality to Lucerne, it is often used for sowing on pastures for ruminant domestic animals, as well as for harvesting hay for the winter.

A powerful root system is used for land reclamation and soil erosion control.

The plant's unpretentiousness to living conditions, high drought resistance and frost resistance, combined with decorative foliage and large inflorescences, makes Astragalus chickpea a popular plant for decorating summer cottages. It should only be remembered that the plant does not like acidic soils and easily spreads over the site, displacing its neighbors, and therefore it is required to limit the movement of its underground parts.

Several sources report medicinal uses of the plant, although such use is more often denied.

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