Wildflower (forb) · Fabaceae
Canadian milkvetch
Astragalus canadensis · includes its varieties and subspecies
Canadian milkvetch is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 785 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Canadian milkvetch at a glance
- Native in
- 785 counties, across 39 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 6 in PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Canadian milkvetch is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 785 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 785 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arkansas 21 counties
- California 6 counties
- Colorado 6 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Idaho 29 counties
- Illinois 58 counties
- Indiana 26 counties
- Iowa 27 counties
- Kansas 41 counties
- Kentucky 19 counties
- Louisiana 6 counties
- Maryland 2 counties
- Michigan 14 counties
- Minnesota 63 counties
- Mississippi 7 counties
- Missouri 91 counties
- Montana 17 counties
- Nebraska 23 counties
- Nevada 13 counties
- New Jersey 1 county
- New Mexico 2 counties
- New York 14 counties
- North Carolina 24 counties
- North Dakota 35 counties
- Ohio 13 counties
- Oklahoma 16 counties
- Oregon 10 counties
- Pennsylvania 13 counties
- South Carolina 2 counties
- South Dakota 14 counties
- Tennessee 15 counties
- Texas 11 counties
- Utah 12 counties
- Vermont 4 counties
- Virginia 41 counties
- Washington 18 counties
- West Virginia 15 counties
- Wisconsin 41 counties
- Wyoming 15 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6 in
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Shape
- Prostrate
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 20 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 6 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 175
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- Slight
- Nitrogen fixation
- Low
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Fabaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ASCA11
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Astragalus canadensis (PLANTS symbol ASCA11), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources