Fabaceae
Astragalus mongholicus
Huang qi · Mongolian milkvetch
- Part used
- root
- Native range
- Northern China, Mongolia and Siberia
- Morphology
- A perennial legume to about a metre with pinnate leaves and pale yellow pea flowers, over a long straw-yellow taproot that is sliced lengthwise for use.
- Also known as
- Astragalus membranaceus
What is in it
Evidence
A large literature of small trials, mostly from China, reporting benefit as an adjunct in chemotherapy and in kidney disease. Systematic reviews consistently find the trial quality too low to conclude from, and note strong regional publication effects.
Safety
Generally well tolerated. Immunostimulant activity in laboratory work raises theoretical concern in autoimmune disease and with immunosuppressant therapy. Quality varies and adulteration with related Astragalus species is documented, some of which are toxic.
Interactions: Theoretical opposition to immunosuppressants including ciclosporin
Regulatory: Permitted as a listed medicine ingredient in Australia.
How the traditions classify it
Three systems, rating the same plant. Where they disagree, none of them is correcting the others — they are separate frameworks that arrived at their categories independently.
Historical use
Recorded in the Shennong Bencao Jing in the early centuries CE and continuously used since as a tonic for fatigue and weakness and to support recovery after illness.
Recorded as history and attributed where possible. Long use establishes that a plant was widely used, not that it worked, and not that it was safe.
Worth knowing
Astragalus is a good illustration of a problem that runs through the whole Chinese trial literature: an enormous number of studies, almost all small, almost all positive, and almost all from one region.
Systematic reviewers have documented this repeatedly. It is not an accusation of fraud — it is a combination of publication practices, small sample sizes and a genuine cultural expectation that the herb works. The result is a body of evidence too weak to conclude from and too large to dismiss, and it is the single commonest verdict on a Chinese herb in this collection.
The genus is also large, and several species are seriously toxic — locoweed poisoning in livestock is an Astragalus problem. Species substitution here is not a trivial matter.
Nomenclature verified against GBIF backbone taxonomy.