Fabaceae

Chinese milk-vetch

Astragalus sinicus L.

Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Astragalus

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Chinese milk-vetch (Astragalus sinicus) — FlowerPhoto: Se Lena, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (4)

Chinese: 紫云英, 紫雲英, 沙蒺藜, 紫云英子, 红花草, 红花菜, 翘摇, 翹搖
English: Chinese milk-vetch
Japanese: ゲンゲ, レンゲ, レンゲソウ, 紫雲英, 蓮華草
Korean: 자운영

Synonyms

Astragalus lotoides Lam.
Astragalus sinicus f. albiflorus Makino
Astragalus sinicus f. rosaceus Makino
Astragalus sinicus var. macrocalyx Ulbr.
Tragacantha sinica (L.) Kuntze

Flowers

In flower: March to April (from 115 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Se Lena, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: yajapin, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: MadMagpie, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Miya, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Kim, Hyun-tae, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Jhonatan Matheus, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Miya, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: angryphyco, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Keisotyo assumed, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Norio Nomura, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Keisotyo assumed, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Astragalus

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.