Astragalus callichrous,Violet milk-vetch,
Hebrew: קדד יפה, Arabic: القتاد اللين

Scientific name:  Astragalus callichrous Boiss.
Common name:  Violet milk-vetch
Hebrew name:   קדד יפה
Arabic name:   القتاد اللين
Family:  Fabaceae or Papilionaceae, Legume/Pea Family, הפרפרניים

Fleurs sauvages, Wildblumen, Fiori, флоры, Flores Silvestres

Life form:  Annual
Stems:  Not climbing herb
Leaves:  Alternate, compound, pinnate, smooth
Inflorescence:  Racemes capitate, 5-8-flowered
Flowers:  Violet, pink, standard gradually tapering
Fruits / pods:  Pea-like pod with several seeds
Flowering Period:  January, February, March, April
Habitat:  Shrub-steppes
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:  Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:  Ephemeral

Astragalus callichrous,Violet milk-vetch, קדד יפה


Derivation of the botanical name:
Astragalus, ἀστραγαλος, literally sig­nifies a huckle bone (talus), a small bone of the ankle; astragalus, which the Greeks, as well as the Romans, used for dice and other purposes and an early name applied to some plants in this family because of the shape of the seeds; also could mean "star" or "milk".
callichrous calli, callos, καλλοϛ, "beauty", and , "-coloured; beautifully coloured.
The Hebrew word: קדד, kedad, related to Akkadian (the earliest attested Semitic language; qadādu (= to lean, bend, incline), from Arabic qudad.
  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810–1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.

פרחים וצמחי בר בארץ ישראל


פרחים וצמחי בר בארץ ישראל