Hello everyone,

I gathered these pods in late fall on the family ranch in Montana (Wheatland, Golden Valley and Sweet Grass counties). Dry, clay soil (gumbo when wet). Full sun on the top of a bench (not in a ravine or canyon or along a waterway). All that was left at that time were low, dry stems and the desiccated seed pods.

The image here https://www.earth.com/earthped... shows a seed pod (upper left corner) that appears to be starting to dry down. It seems to be a reasonable match for the capsules in the pics below.

The brown seeds are plumper than the black seeds. Initially I thought the black ones might be immature, but the couple pics I've run across show A. crassicarpus has black seeds rather than brown seeds. Maybe it's the brown seeds that aren't mature. I plan to sow some of each to see what, if anything, happens.

Thoughts anyone?

They could be Astragalus seeds, they certainly look like them. As for a species, the area you gathered the seeds from is right and visualizing a dried pod, I would say that is right also.

I gathered seeds from our local Astragalus a few years ago, it took them 2 years to germinate. Yours may not take that long but I can guarantee they will need cold stratification. You better start now.

They look right except the pod seems awfully small. All the crassicarpus pods that I have seen are about double that size, about an inch in diameter. Perhaps it is just our climate differences. You might also want to look at the Genus Physaria, P. didymocarpa perhaps?

Astragalus and Physaria seed are warm germinators and technically do not need a cold treatment. They do have an impervious seed coat that requires some degradation or break in its integrity to allow for water absorption. This is where a cold freezing winter is advantageous. It can create micro fissures in the seed coat that will allow water to be imbibed and the seed germinates. Or you can do what what seasoned rock gardeners do: scarify the seed before planting and skip the winter.

I am betting that both the black and the brown seeds are viable. And that the black seeds are just more mature (and probably have a more impervious seed coat). I have seen a few "normal" brown seeds when I encounter seed, but usually they look like this: good black seed with brown bits that were never fertilized.

Thanks Daisy and Rick!

Interesting point about the size difference. The largest pod was just shy of 1" in diameter. I see five subspecies listed for A. crassicarpus in the database.

From http://fieldguide.mt.gov/speci...:
Diagnostic Characteristics
In Montana Astragalus crassicarpus has two varieties (Lesica et al. 2012):
* var. crassicarpus has predominately purple flowers (petals). It is found on the Great Plains.
* var. paysonis has predominately white flowers (petals) with purple tips. It is mostly found in the western half of Montana.

Robert and Jane Dorn state there are 150 Astragalus species in the Rocky Mountain region (Growing Native Plants of the Rocky Mountain Area), so I might be very prematurely pointing to a species at this point. If I get a minute, I'll ping Jane to see if she can weigh in.

Interesting thought on Physaria didymocarpa. I've only grown P. saximontana, but I couldn't come up with the seed packet when I sorted through the "P" box. Are the seeds of P. didymocarpa fairly large?

In the seed sowing department ...

The brown seeds have a delicate seed coat that breaks under the lightest of pressure, revealing either a shriveled embryo or a mushy embryo.

I filed 17 of the black seeds, and most of them plumped up nicely. You can see that I put too much pressure on one seed and cracked it. I refiled the two black seeds that hadn't imbibed in the photo below, and one is swelling. I'll give the other one another filing treatment. The shriveled embryo in the picture above swelled a bit in warm water, though I don't hold out much hope for it germinating. (It's on the right side of the coffee mug below.)