Canadian Milk vetch, Astragalus canadensis, Native Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Canadian Milk Vetch	Astragalus canadensis L.	Pea (Fabaceae)	Upland	Early to late summer
Other names and notes	A legume with small cream to greenish tubular flowers densely packed into a spike, held above the upper leaves, that can be on stems up to four feet high with the long pinnately compound leaves having an odd number of 15 to 35 leaflets. The individual flowers are 5-parted, 1/2" to 3/4" long. The flower spikes mature to many dark brown seed pods containing two chambers containing several small, smooth, brownish to yellow-green seeds. It grows from rhizomes and tends to colonize an area. The plant requires a sunny, moist but well drained location.


Above: Flowering in early to mid July. Below left: Mid-August Seed head. Below right: Late September seed head.

Notes: Eloise Butler introduced the plant to the Garden in 1909. She planted additional ones on June 12, 1912 from Washburn Park, Minneapolis and on Oct. 16 from Groveland Park. It was not listed on Martha Crones 1951 census of Garden plants. It is now found at the far east end of the Upland Garden. It is widely distributed in Minnesota with only a few counties in the eastern half not reporting it.

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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

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