Astragalus canadensis (Canadian Milk Vetch)
Astragalus canadensis (Canadian Milk Vetch)
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$30 minimum per species for seed.
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Pure Live Seed
Pure Live Seed
Seed is provided in Pure Live Seed (PLS) unless otherwise stated.
Pure Live Seed (PLS) expresses the viable seed content of a seed lot using its purity and germination or viability test results. It helps you compare seed lots and calculate how much bulk seed is needed to meet a specified PLS planting rate.
PLS weight and bag weight
PLS weight is not the same as the total weight of seed in a bag. For example, a lot with 80% purity and 75% viability contains 60% PLS: 80 × 75 ÷ 100 = 60. Supplying 10 lb PLS from that lot requires about 16.67 lb of bulk seed.
Use the current seed test and the stated basis of the mix specification. Germination calculations may include applicable hard or dormant seed. Seed-count estimates also require the number of seeds per pound; PLS alone does not provide a seed count.
What to check when buying a mix
Check whether each rate is stated in PLS pounds, bulk pounds, or a combination. A mix with both bases should not be described as having an all-PLS total.
PLS does not remove weed seeds or guarantee establishment. Review the seed label and analysis for weed content, and match site preparation, planting conditions and follow-up management to your project.
Sources: USDA NRCS, Understanding Pure Live Seed and The Importance of Seed Quality for Natural Resource Conservation.
Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.
Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.
0.01 pounds = 0.16 ounces
- 0.1 pounds = 1.6 ounces
- 0.25 pounds = 4 ounces
- 0.5 pounds = 8 ounces
- 0.75 pounds = 12 ounces
- 1.00 pounds = 16 ounces
Canada milkvetch carries crowded clusters of cream-colored flowers. Its stems may lean or sprawl, so neighboring vegetation can provide useful support in a sunny planting.
For Astragalus canadensis, choose full to partial sun and mesic soil. Recorded habitats include moist to slightly dry black-soil prairies; Sand prairies; Savannas; Thickets and woodland margins; Moist riverside meadows. Reported height: 1½–3½ ft.
Its below-ground structure is described as taproot. Choose the permanent location with that root structure and the mature size in mind. Planning the surrounding space at planting time reduces the need to reorganize an established bed later.
Plant specifications & ecological relationships
Key growing facts
| Sunlight | Full to partial sun |
|---|---|
| Soil moisture | Mesic |
| Height | 1½–3½ ft |
| Bloom season | Summer |
Native landscape companions
For full sun and mesic soil, consider these native plants alongside Astragalus canadensis:
| Companion plant | Height |
|---|---|
| New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) | Up to 3¼ ft |
| Long-awned Bracted Sedge / Heavy Sedge (Carex gravida) | About 1½–3 ft |
| Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) | Up to 4 ft |
| Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) | 1½–3 ft |
These landscape suggestions combine overlapping growing needs with documented plant associations. Match soil, seasonal wetness and mature spread to your site. Remnant records are described separately under Plant communities & associates.
Show / hide ▾Growing & planting details
| Growth habit | Upright perennial with occasional branching |
|---|---|
| Root form | Taproot |
| Soil pH | Published cultivation guidance lists acidic, alkaline, neutral soil conditions; no optimal numeric interval is established. |
| Cultivation hardiness zones | Zones 3a–8b (general cultivation guidance) |
| Drought tolerance | Drought tolerance reported in cultivation guidance; establishment needs and duration are not specified. |
| Deer browsing | Deer browse the foliage according to the Illinois account. |
| Salt tolerance | None |
| Plant toxicity | Poison characteristics are reported; listed parts: flowers, leaves, roots, seeds, stems. Pet safety is not established. |
Plant identification & seed reference
| Botanical name | Astragalus canadensis |
|---|---|
| Other common names | canadian milkvetch; Canada Milkvetch; Canadian Milkvetch; Locoweed; Loco Weed; Milk-Vetch |
| Seed germination | USDA lists cold stratification as not required; seed-lot response may vary. |
| Plant family | Fabaceae |
| Seeds per pound — reference estimate | 270500 |
Plant characteristics
This really is an unmistakable and unique plant! With visitors from many different types of pollinators from bees to hummingbirds, it can really bring in interesting wildlife. As a member of the pea family it has a distinct look with the compound leaves resembling waving palms on the breeze. The flowers are quite attractive with the white to sometimes creamy green white color are really an unexpected surprise. Consider Astragalus canadensis (Canadian Milk Vetch) as a featured plant in a native garden or in any landscape.
Show / hide ▾Plant communities & associates
Illinois plant communities
Mesic black-soil prairie — central Illinois
Recorded at Weston Cemetery Prairie (McLean County). INHS identifies these sites as remnants of this community.
Selected native plants from the same remnant records:
- Sorghastrum nutans
- Andropogon gerardii
- Sporobolus heterolepis
- Eryngium yuccifolium
- Silphium laciniatum
- Amorpha canescens
These inventories include edges and disturbed patches. Shared remnant records do not establish that every plant grows together in one microsite.
Show / hide ▾Native range & C-value
State nativity describes a broad range. Use the Chicago-region assessment for local context; a state listing does not establish county nativity.
| Wetland indicator — NWPL 2022 Midwest | FAC |
|---|---|
| C-value — Chicago region, Flora 2017 | 8 |
| Chicago-region native — Flora 2017 | Yes |
| Native range — U.S. states | Alabama; Arkansas; California; Colorado; Connecticut; Georgia; Idaho; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Michigan; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; Nevada; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Vermont; Virginia; Washington; West Virginia; Wisconsin; Wyoming |
| County nativity | Cook County, Illinois — native-remnant population documented in the 2000 survey. Partial county coverage; other counties have not yet been assessed here. |
Show / hide ▾Pollinators & wildlife
Bees & other flower visitors
USGS observations recorded the following insects visiting flowers of this plant in North Dakota. The records describe visits, without distinguishing pollen collection from nectar feeding or measuring successful pollination. They do not establish local occurrence, exclusive dependence, or a larval-host relationship.
Bees
- Bombus fervidus — North Dakota; 2015.
- Bombus nevadensis — North Dakota; 2015.
- Bombus sp. (genus only) — North Dakota; 2016.
- Bombus ternarius — North Dakota; 2017.
Caterpillars & other plant-feeding insects
This plant has published caterpillar host records for the butterflies and moths listed below. These are larval feeding relationships, separate from adult nectar visits. The records span a North American literature compilation and do not establish that every insect occurs locally or uses only this plant.
Butterflies & skippers
- Gesta persius — Persius Duskywing
- Plebejus idas — Northern Blue
- Plebejus melissa — Melissa Blue, Gray Hairstreak, Cotton Square Borer
Other insect & wildlife relationships
- Flower visits: Bumblebees, honeybees, other long-tongued bees and hummingbirds visit the flowers.
- Seed: Birds, including wild turkeys, eat the seed.
Additional published species records; Illinois insect occurrence is not established by this account. These records do not guarantee that every insect occurs at your planting site.
Show / hide ▾Frequently asked questions
What are the ideal growing conditions for Canadian Milk Vetch?
Light: Full to partial sun. Soil moisture: Mesic.
How do I germinate and establish Canadian Milk Vetch from seed?
USDA lists cold stratification as not required; seed-lot response may vary.
Is Canadian Milk Vetch deer and herbivore resistant?
Deer browse the foliage according to the Illinois account. Even plants described as resistant may be browsed. Use physical protection where deer damage is a concern.
When should I expect Canadian Milk Vetch to bloom?
Typical flowering period: Summer. Timing varies with location and weather.
Show / hide ▾Sources & ecological notes
Landscape companion selection: Natural Communities compared the growing requirements shown on these species pages with selected source records: Mesic black-soil prairie — Weston Cemetery Prairie — Central Illinois. The shortlist is a planting-design inference. A shared record does not establish adjacency, identical soil requirements, local seed origin, or a tested planting combination. Regional synthesis records retain their documented focal-to-associate scope.
Illinois communities & local records: INHS: Loda, Prospect and Weston prairie records; Shouba & Murray: Wolf Road Prairie, Cook County (2000).
Native range & ecological ratings: Flora of the Chicago Region (2017), via Universal FQA; USACE Chicago FQA (2017); Kew WCVP / Plants of the World Online; USACE National Wetland Plant List.
Growing conditions & other references: Illinois Wildflowers, John Hilty; USDA NRCS PLANTS; NC State Extension Plant Toolbox.
Wildlife records: Shropshire & Tallamy: caterpillar hosts (2025); USGS Pollinator Library.
Native range does not identify the origin of the seed or plants offered. Community and wildlife records apply to the locations and conditions described.
Research notes & credits
USACE/ERDC fqadata — Chicago Region FQA 2017. Herman, B., Sliwinski, R. & Whitaker, S. (2017), Chicago Region FQA Calculator; distributed by USACE/ERDC in fqadata under CC0. Values may differ from Flora of the Chicago Region (2017). CC0 dedication. Retained for comparison; the displayed C-value follows Flora database 80.
Range data: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; 4 June 2026 release, accessed 7 September 2026. © The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. CC BY 3.0; selected and reformatted. Kew cannot warrant the quality or accuracy of these data. This use has no Kew endorsement.
Caterpillar host records: Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025), Lepidoptera of North America, Supplement 1. Contains information from this database made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). Natural Communities selected species-level records and screened source qualifications. The complete selection and transformation instructions for this page are available below under the same license.
Flora rating attribution: Kenneth Johnson (2018), Flora of the Chicago Region UFQA Database, following Gerould Wilhelm and Laura Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Individual rating facts are presented with original commentary; the calculator’s software license is not treated as a license for the underlying Flora publication.
Caterpillar research records
Plant: Astragalus canadensis
Record scope: Host literature synthesis; no county nativity or local insect occurrence inferred.
Shropshire & Tallamy (2025) · Original research dataset · Reuse license: ODbL-1.0
| Plant names in the source | Source insect record IDs |
|---|---|
| Astragalus canadensis | 206195, 210229, 210230 |
How these records were selected
To reproduce this selection, use the “UDELep May 2025” worksheet in the original research dataset.
- Match the insect record IDs above to column A (UDLepID). Within each table row, pair every listed insect ID with every listed source plant name.
- Use the first two words in column H for the insect’s scientific name, column E for its common name, and column AB for its source category.
- Treat the selected pairs as reported caterpillar host records. Keep all other source fields unchanged and outside this selected table. Include no other rows or host pairs.
- Group butterflies and skippers together, and the other categories as moths. Retain the source’s exotic-category labels and sort display names by scientific insect name.
Growing guidance: Illinois Extension — Keeping deer out of the yard and garden. Selected facts in original wording. General deer advice is not a species resistance rating.
Plant Shipping & Care
Plant Shipping & Care
We want to ensure that our customers get what they want, a native backyard oasis. To do that, we need to follow a few simple guidelines and give you some information and pointers to make sure you get your plants delivered in a healthy state.
As a reminder, you will receive an email to confirm your pickup or shipping window just before the plants are ready. See Order Fulfillment below for seasonal fulfillment windows.
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Order Fulfilment - When Your Plants or Other Items Will Be Ready
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Retail & Website Orders
- Seed Typically Ships Out Within One Week Of Order All Year Long
- Typically, single species flats ship when ready, sometimes as soon as early to mid-April (depends on weather) through early-October.
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Where We Ship
What to Expect When Receiving Your Delivery
- Your plants will be packaged with the utmost care
- We will need to cut back certain plants prior to shipping. This seems counter-intuitive, however, the fewer leaves the less water the plants can lose during shipping, resulting in healthier plants for you. This also enables the plants to fit within the protective packaging and shipped safely.
Shipments
- Larger plant shipments will look similar to the picture below with a tray of your plants and a cardboard box to protect them during shipping.
What to Do With Your Plants After Receiving Your Delivery
- Unpack your order IMMEDIATELY
- Inspect for damage and report any issues immediately to Natives@NaturalCommunities.net
- Water your plants
- Install your plants as quickly as possible and water the entire garden area thoroughly
- If you cannot install your plants immediately
- Some plants may not be in a container, put them into some kind of a container such as a paper cup with loose soil until installation
- Make sure each plant is receiving the appropriate amount of light.
- Continue to water daily each morning and possibly again in the afternoon
- No additional fertilizer is needed
Seed Shipping & Care
Seed Shipping & Care
There is a minimum order requirement of $30 for each seed species. Seed ships all year and typically ships within a week of an order being placed.
We have attempted to put together some basic information regarding native seed installation, establishment, and maintenance. We hope you find it helpful. If you need further assistance on native seed establishment, please schedule a free consolation call here.
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