milk vetch

noun

: any of a genus (Astragalus) of annual or perennial leguminous herbs of north temperate regions

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The Borrego milk vetch is actually a rare and endangered native plant that needs to plumb deep into the sand to find water. —Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2023

In the Cadiz Dunes Wilderness, herbs like the Borrego milk vetch somehow thrive among the sandy hills. —Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2023

Overall, fewer than 3,000 individual Braunton’s milk vetch plants persist in a region spanning about 80 miles from east to west and 25 miles from north to south. —Louis Sahagunstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2019

Word History

Etymology

from the popular belief that it increases the milk yield of goats

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined above