Herbs, undershrubs or shrubs. Leaf paripinnate or imparipinnate, rarely unifoliolate or digitately trifoliolate; leaflets entire, stipels absent; stipulate. Inflorescence racemose, spicate umbellate or solitary; peduncles generally axillary. Flowers bracteate; bracteoles present or absent; pedicellate or sessile, violet or purple to white or pale yellow. Calyx tubular, teeth subequal. Vexillum ovate, obovate, oblong, panduriform or sometimes appendiculate Wing and keel generally with long claws. Stamens diadelphous, vexillary stamen free, rest (9) united, anthers uniform. Ovary sessile or stipitate, glabrous or pubescent; style straight or incurved, stigma mostly terminal, sometimes penicillate. Fruit sessile or stipitate, 2-valved, unilocular, partly or completely bilocular by an intrusive membrane. Seed often reniform.
Astragalus is one of the biggest Angiospermous genera with about 1600 species widely distributed in the Old and the New World. In Pakistan it is represented by about 135 species.
Synopsis Of Sections And Species
GROUP A
Sect. Phyllolobium- Astragalus tribulifolius, A. hendersonii, A. heydei
Sect. Falcinellus- Astragalus amherstianus, A. eremophilus, A. bakaliensis, A. subumbellatus, A. scorpiurus
Sect. Coluteocarpus- Astragalus Coluteocarpus
Sect. Sesbanella- Astragalus falconeri, A. hoffmeisteri
Sect. Pendulina- Astragalus mirabilis, A. gahiratensis
GROUP B
Sect. Oxyglottis- Astragalus tribuloides, A. filicaulis, A. eremophilus, A. schimperi, A. oxyglottis
Sect. Poliothrix- Astragalus leucocephalus
Sect. Cycloglottis- Astragalus contortuplicatus
Sect. Swerzowia- Astragalus compositus
Sect. Ankylotus- Astragalus gracilipes, A. affghanus
Sect. Ophiocarpus- Astragalus ophiocarpus
Sect. Harpilobus- Astragalus corrugatus, A. campylorhynchus, A. hauarensis
Sect. Hemiphaca- Astragalus macropterus, A. densiflorus, A. melanostachys, A. clarkeanus
Sect. Christiana- Astragalus orthocarpus, A. zarghumensis, A. tephrosoides
Sect. Chlorostachys- Astragalus chlorostachys, A. bakeri, A. stewarti, A. concretus, A. maxwellii
Sect. Diplotheca- Astragalus graveolens
Sect. Heterozyx- Astragalus neubauerianus
Sect. Cenantrum- Astragalus frigidus, A. pseudochlorostachys
Sect. Himiphragmium- Astragalus oxyodon, A. maddenianus, A. himalayanus, A. strictus A. confertus
Sect. Lithophilus- Astragalus munroi, A. kashmirensis
Sect. Scheremeteviana- Astragalus scheremeteviana
Sect. Komaroviella- Astragalus jabbor-khailii, A. lowarensis
Sect. Malacothrix- Astragalus pseudo-beckii
Sect. Erionotus- Astragalus orbiclautus, A. chitralensis, A. polybotrys
Sect.Myobroma- Astragalus fernandezianus, A. concinnus, A. toppinianus, A. flexus, A. auganus, A. rhizocephalus, A. candolleanus, A. minutofoliolatus, A. gompholobium A. pyrrhotrichus, A. malacophyllus, A. webbianus, A. flemingii, A. staintonianus, A. rhizanthus, A. zanskaresis, A. pindreensis, A. nicharensis, A. purpurascens, A. gilgitensis, A. edelbergianus, A. sultani, A. sp. A
Sect. Cartillaginella- Astragalus retamocarpus
Sect. Chronopus- Astragalus albo-villosus
Sect. Mirae- Astragalus mirus
GROUP C
Sect. Podolotus- Astragalus hosackioides.
GROUP D
Sect. Aegacantha- Astragalus oihorensis, A. lasiosemius, A. leptus, A. psilocentros, A. lamondiae, A. pseudopsilacanthus, A. grahamianus, A. psilacanthus, A. hemsleyi, A. lamondiae, A. infestus, A. bicuspis, A. polyacanthus, A. oplites.
GROUP E
Sect. Platonychium- Astragalus strobiliferus
Sect. Macrothrix- Astragalus ghaznianus, A. neo-spinosus
Sect. Pterophorus- Astragalus ptilocephales
GROUP F
Sect. Poterium- Astragalus anisacanthus
Sect. Camplyanthus- Astragalus congestus, A. diopogon
Sect. Alopecias- Astragalus sericostachys
Sect. Eremophysa- Astragalus kahiricus
GROUP G
Sect. Hypsophilus- Astragalus nivalis
Sect. Chaetodon- Astragalus breviscapus
Sect. Cystodes- Astragalus medius
GROUP H
Sect. Caraganella- Astragalus trichocarpus, A. stocksii, A. koschukensis
Sect. Ammodendron- Astragalus squarrosus
Sect. Eudomus- Astragalus peduncularis
Sect. Xiphidium- Astragalus khalifatensis, A. droshensis, A. subuliformis, A. imitensis, A. xanthoxiphidiopsis
Sect. Onobrychium- Astragalus laspurensis
Sect. Proselius- Astragalus brahuicus, A. sykesiae, A. mangeri, A. holdichianus
Sect. Erioceras- Astragalus harsukhianus
Sect. Buceras- Astragalus hamosus
Sect. Harpocaulos- Astragalus fatmensis
Sect. Cystium- Astragalus skorniakovii
