ASTRA 
Switzerland, mount Etna, Olympus, &c. Cultivated here 
in 1640. From the aftragalus tragacantha, or goat’s.thorn, 
is gathered the gum called gum tragacanth, fo much ufed 
in various preparations in different trades, as well as in the 
materia medica. It differs from all other known gums in 
giving a thick confidence to a much larger quantity of 
water, and in being folublc with much more difficulty, or 
rather diffblving only imperfectly. When put into water 
it 11 owly imbibes a great quantity of the fluid, fwells into 
a large volume, and forms a foft but not fluid mucilage. 
1 he demulcent qualities of this gum are to be conlidered 
as (imilar to thofe of gum arabic. It is feldom given alone, 
but frequently in combination with more powerful medi¬ 
cines, efpecially in the form of troches, tor which it is pe¬ 
culiarly well adapted. It gives name to an officinal powder. 
V. Otherfpecies. 48. Aftragalus foetidus : ftemlefs, leaves 
proffrate, vifeid, fharply linear; fcapes ereiSt, with few 
flowers. Native of Dauphine; alfo of Mont Cenis, and 
other high Alps. 
49. Aftragalus Halleri: fcapes leaflefs, leaves ovate- 
lanceolate, fmooth; legumes inflated, hirfute, eretSL Na¬ 
tive of the mountains ot the Valais, and ot Piedmont, bor¬ 
dering on it. 
50. Aftragalus vulneraroides: ftemlefs, hirfute, fcapes 
longer than the leaves, legumes inflated, ovate, in heads. 
Native of Mont Cenis. 
■51. Aftragalus tenuifolius, or upright milk-vetch : cau- 
lefcent erect, fpikes peduncled, banner twice as long as 
the wings, leaflets linear. 52. Aftragalus virefeens, or 
green-flowered milk-vetch : caulefcent ere 61 , legumes bent 
back, peduncles many-flowered, longer than the leaf; 
leaflets lanceolate, acute. Native of Siberia. Introduced 
in 17So, by Peter Simon Pallas, M. D. The former flow¬ 
ers in July and Auguft, the latter in June. 
53. Aftragalus Garbancillo : ftem fhrubby, upright; 
pinnules ovate-oblong, fomewhat tomentofe; peduncles 
naked, elongated. Stem a foot and half high, branched, 
covered with a very fhort whitifh knap. Native of Peru. 
It flowered in the royal garden at Madrid, before 1791, in 
October and November. It is reported to be very inju¬ 
rious to cattle. 
54. Aftragalus hifpidus: caulefcent procumbent, leaf¬ 
lets and legumes ovate-oblong, hifpid; corollas (hotter 
than the calyx. 55. Aftragalus emarginatus: almoft ftem- 
Icfs, fcapes very long, heads globofe, legumes woolly. 
56. Aftragalus lanauts: ftemlefs, .with a naked (cape, the 
length of the leaves; legumes in clofe fpikes, woolly, half- 
cordate, three-fided, fubulate ; leaves villole. Thefe three 
fpecies are natives of mount Libanus. 
57. Aftragalus leucophaeus: caulefcent procumbent; 
legume's fufccylindric, frraight, fmooth; leaflets obcordate, 
viTlofe underneath. '1 he native country of this fpecies is 
unknown. It appears to be an old inhabitant of Chelfea 
garden, and was marked with the name of aftragalus pilo- 
fusin Miller’s herbarium. It has, however, no affinity to 
the aftragalus piloftis of Linnaeus, nor does it even agree 
with the defeription of that plant in Miller’s dictionary. 
Communicated by Fairbairn, from Chelfea garden, in 1788. 
38. Aftragalus deflexus: fubcaulefcent proftrate, fcapes 
tw'ice as long as the leaf, legumes gaping, leaves pecti¬ 
nate, right-angled. Native of Siberia, on the loftieft moun¬ 
tains; and Cent thence to the Paris garden by Demidow. 
59. Aftragalus unifultus : fuftruticofe procumbent, fti- 
pules (olitary, ftein-clafping, oppoflte to the leaves bifid. 
Native of Peru, where it was found by Dombey. 
60. Aflragalus varius: caulefcent fruticulofe upright, 
flowers in loofe fpikes, legumes linear, ftipnles fuliginofe 
downwards. Tlus is a hoary little flmib, about a cubit 
in height. It flowers in fummer, and foon ripens, the 
feeds; though fhrubby, it continues not many years. Na¬ 
tive of Siberia, whence the feeds were fent to the Paris 
garden by Demidow. 
61. Aftragalus ariftatus : fuftruticofe proftrate, leaves 
hairy, petioles fpinefeent, calyxes awned. Native of Swit¬ 
zerland and Provence. 
z 
G A L U S. 307 
62. Aftragalus pugniformis: fhrubby, procumbent,heads 
ftem-clafping, tomentofe; petioles and leaves pungent and 
fmooth. 1 his is remarkable for the largenefs of the heads 
or balls of flowers, almoft the lize of the firft. Native of 
the Levant. 
63. Aftragalus echinoides: the leaves are minute, the 
flowers fmall, white, with a purple line on the banner. 
Native of Crete, or Candia. 
Propagation and Culture. All the fpecies may be rajfed 
from feeds; thefe (hould be fown in April, on an open 
border ot light earth ; the annual forts where they are to 
remain, the perennials to be tranfplanted to the places for 
which they are deftined. They are in general hardy, and: 
require no other care but to draw the plants out where 
they come up too thick, leaving them a foot and half or 
two feet afunder, and to keep them clean from weeds. 
Obferve only that fome (as No. 26, 35, 37) require a 
ffiady fituation and ftrong foil ; others, (as No. 6, 39,) an 
open fituation and dry foil. No. 2 and 33 muft be planted 
in a warm border. The fecond fort feldom flowers till 
the third year from feed, and will continue many years in 
a proper foil. No. 3, 7, 10, 12, 30, muft be raifed on a 
moderate hot-bed in the fpring, and, when the plants are 
fit to remove, they fhould be each put into a fmall pot 
filled with light earth, and plunged again into the hot¬ 
bed, fhading them from the fun till they have taken root.; 
after which they fhould have free air admitted to them 
daily, in proportion to the warmth of the feafon ; and 
fhould be frequently, but gently watered. In May they 
fhould be removed to a fheltered fituation, where they 
may remain till October, when they fhould be placed un¬ 
der a common frame. In the fpring they may be turned 
out ot the pots, and planted in a warm border, where they 
will flower, and fometimes' produce feeds. If the winter 
prove very fevere, a little old tan fhould be laid over the 
roots, which will effeftually preferve them. The traga¬ 
canth may be propagated by feeds, if they can be procured 
from abroad, in the fame manner with the others. When 
they are large enough to tranfplant, they fhould be care¬ 
fully taken up, and fome of them planted in fmall pots 
filled with frefh earth, placing them in the (hade until 
they have taken root ; alter which the\ may be removed 
into an open fituation, where they may remain to the end 
ol October, when they fhould be placed under a common 
frame, where they may be fheltered from fevere froft, but 
have free air in mild weather. The remainder of the 
plants may be fet on a warm dry border. The plants in 
pots may be preferved a year or two under frames in win¬ 
ter, and then being fhaken out of the pots may be planted- 
in a lean dry foil, and warm fituation: but, as they are 
fometimes' deftroyed by hard winters, it will be proper to 
keep a few plants in pots, to be fheltered, in winter, in or¬ 
der to preferve the fpecies. Thefe plants may alfo be m- 
creafed by flips, and as they rarely produce feeds in this 
country, the latter method is generally ufed here. The 
heft time for this work is in April, juft as the plants begin 
to fhoot, at which time the tender branches fhould be 
flipped off, and their lower parts divefied of the decayed 
leaves; then they fhould be planted on a very moderate 
hot-bed, which muft be covered with mats, to fereen them 
from the heat of the fun by day, and the cold by night. 
Thefe flips fhould be frequently but gently watered, un¬ 
til they have taken root; after which they may be expo- 
fed to the open air, and in very dry weather they muft be 
refrefiled with water. On this bed rhey may remain until 
the following fpring, being covered with mats in very fe¬ 
vere weather. In April they may be tranfplanted, eitiu’T 
into pots filled with light fandy earth, or into warm bor¬ 
ders, where, if the foil be dry, gravelly, and poor, they 
will endure almoft the fevereft cold of our climate; but, 
if they are planted in a very rich foil, they often decay in. 
winter. 
Astragalus. See Anthyi.lis, Biserrula, Cro~ 
ta lari a, Glyxine, Hedy s arum, Indus oeera, Oro. 
bus, and Phaca. 
AS'TRAL, 
