What is "astragalus gummifer"

Tragacanth \Trag"a*canth\, n. [L. tragacanthum tragacanth, tragacantha the plant producing tragacanth, Gr. ? ? a he-goat + ? a thorn: cf. F. tragacanthe.] A kind of gum procured from a spiny leguminous shrub ( Astragalus gummifer) of Western Asia, and other species of Astragalus. It comes in hard whitish or yellowish flakes or filaments, and is nearly insoluble in water, but slowly swells into a mucilaginous mass, which is used as a substitute for gum arabic in medicine and the arts. Called also gum tragacanth.

Astragalus \As*trag"a*lus\, n. [L. See Astragal.]

1. (Anat.) The ankle bone, or hock bone; the bone of the tarsus which articulates with the tibia at the ankle.

2. (Bot.) A genus of papilionaceous plants, of the tribe Galege[ae], containing numerous species, two of which are called, in English, milk vetch and licorice vetch. Gum tragacanth is obtained from different oriental species, particularly the Astragalus gummifer and Astragalus verus.

3. (Arch.) See Astragal, 1.

Astragalus gummifer ( tragacanth, gum tragacanth milkvetch), is a small woody evergreen shrub, with a typical height and spread of 30 cm at maturity, indigenous to western Asia, specifically Iraq and Kurdistan. This nitrogen fixing plant bears hermaphroditic flowers, which are bee-pollinated. It has many medical, culinary, and material uses.