Author: آمنه غلامی 
Astragalus floccosus Boiss.
Mohammad Dadmand, Masoumeh Ramezani Yeganeh, Mohammad Mahmoodi and Yusef Ajeni
Natural Resources Gene Bank, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran.
Uploaded at December 2025
Scientific editor: Parvin Salehi Shanjani
Seed Storage
The storage behavior of this species is orthodox (desiccation-tolerant seeds), dry to 15-20% eRH, and store at -20°C.
Germination requirements
The seeds have physical-physiological dormancy and this is related to seed coat and inhibitors. To remove the seed coat, different methods of scarification can be used (sandpaper, sulfuric acid, hot water, etc.). To break dormancy, stratification with pre-chilling (for 14 days), ultrasonic waves, and hormones (Gibberellic acid 100 ppm) are efficient. The best method for breaking dormancy is rubbing the seeds with sandpaper and moist chilling (14 days at 4 °C). Then germinate under a constant temperature of 20 ºC or alternating temperature 25 ºC (16 hours of light) and 15 ºC (8 hours of dark).
Morphology
Fruit type: Pod
Fruit shape: Monolocular, ovoid, dorsiventrally compressed, pubescent
Fruit size: Length 4 to 6 mm, width 2 to 3 mm
Seed shape: Ellipsoid, hilum sunken. Surface glabrous, slightly lustrous, olive color, with scatered faint spotted
Seed size: Length 1.91 to 2.36 mm, width 1.10 to 1.54 mm in an accession from Nahavand, Hamedan, with 1000 seeds weight 2.3 g, which was collected and identified in 2019 by Mohammad Mahmoodi and Yusef Ajeni and is stored in the Natural Resources Gene Bank of Iran with an accession number 47761.
Average 1000 seed weight: 2.3 g
Biological features
Life form: Perennial, shrub or subshrub, thorny, hemispherical or hump-like, erect or spreading on the ground, with very dense and tangled branches, 15 to 20 cm high, rarely up to 80 cm, and 15 to 60 cm in diameter, gray or silvery, covered with dense white hairs or rarely sparsely hairy, sometimes glabrous
Inflorescence, flower type, and pollination mechanism: Inflorescence a raceme globose or elliptical, sometimes cylindrical or rarely very thin, spaced apart, hidden among the leaves, with 1 to 2 flowers located at the base of the leaves along the stem; flowers hermaphrodite, zygomorphic, papilionaceous, corolla (composed of banner: upper large petal, wings: two petals adjacent to the banner, and keel: two bottom petals) yellow, purple, blue or violet, wings longer than the keel. Plant monoecious, cross-pollinated. Pollination is carried out by insects and wind.
Time of flowering: Summer
Time of seed ripening: Summer
Seed dispersal methods: Seed weight and domestic animals
Geographical distribution: Endemic to Iran. Typus from Azarbayjan
Distribution in Iran: East, North and Center. Mostly in Provinces Golestan, Gilan, Kordestan, Hamedan, Khrasan, Semnan, Tehran and Alborz
Taxonomy
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Astragalus
Species: A. floccosus
Persian name: Gavan
References and Links
Black, M. and Bewley, J.D. 2000. Seed technology and its biological basis. Sheffield Academic Press, 1-419 pp.
Bojňanský, V. and Fargašová, A. 2007. Atlas of seeds and fruits of central and East-European flora: the Carpathian Mountains region. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1046 pp.
Ghahraman, A. Flore of Iran. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands with University of Tehran Publication. https://floraofiran.net/index.php.
Javadi, H. 2021. Seed: Processing and Quality tests. Agricultural Education & Extension Publishers, 175 pp.
Maassoumi, A.A. 2016. Flora of Iran, Fabaceae (Astragalus II). Institute of Forests and Rangelands Press, Tehran, Iran, Publication No. 85, 504 pp.
Mozaffarian, V.A. 1998. Dictionary of Iranian plants names. Farhange Moaser Publisher, Tehran, 671 pp.
Mozaffarian, V.A. 2012. A Pictorial dictionary of botany. Farhange Moaser Publisher, Tehran, 1088 pp.
Sharma, O.P. 2009. Plant taxonomy 2E. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, New Delh
