Introductory
SPECIES: Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum | American Sweetvetch 



ABBREVIATION : 
HEDALPA

SYNONYMS : 
   Hedysarum americanum


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   HEALA


COMMON NAMES : 
   American sweetvetch
   American hedysarum
   alpine sweetvetch
   purple hedysarum


TAXONOMY : 
The accepted scientific name of American sweetvetch is Hedysarum alpinum
var. americanum Michx.  Two other varieties of Hedysarum alpinum are
recognized.  Hedysarum alpinum var. grandiflorum Rollins has a similar
range as H. a. var. alpinum but has larger flowers (14-18 mm compared to
11-15 mm).  Hedysarum alpinum var. philoscia (A. Nels.) Rollins occurs
to the south and southeast of the other two varieties in Wyoming, South
Dakota, and Alberta, and has pubescent fruit [10].


LIFE FORM : 
Forb

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
American sweetvetch is rare in Glacier National Park [16].


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Tara Y. Williams, July 1990


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Williams, T. Y. 1990. Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum | American Sweetvetch 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
American sweetvetch is a circumpolar species.  In the western
hemisphere, it occurs from Alaska through western Canada to British
Columbia and Saskatchewan, south to north-central Montana, Wyoming, and
South Dakota.  It also occurs as far east as Labrador and New England
[20,21].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES36  Mountain grasslands
   FRES37  Mountain meadows
   FRES44  Alpine


STATES : 
     AK  MA  ME  MT  ND  SD  VT  WY  AB  BC
     NT  SK  YT


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     DENA  GLAC  LACL  WRST


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K050  Fescue - wheatgrass
   K052  Alpine meadows and barren


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   201  White spruce
   202  White spruce - paper birch
   204  Black spruce
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   218  Lodgepole pine
   251  White spruce - aspen
   253  Black spruce - white spruce


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
American sweetvetch has been listed as a dominant in a plant association
in the following classification:

The vegetation of Alberta [16] 

Associated spceies:  American sweetvetch commonly occurs wih American
green alder (Alnus viridis ssp. crispa), bog birch (Betula glandulosa),
tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia caespitosa), Bering hairgrass (D.
beringensis), rough fescue (Festuca scabrella), northern bedstraw
(Galium boreale), shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa), balsam
poplar (Populus balsamifera), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), white
spruce (Picea glauca), and willows (Salix spp.)  [3,4,7,11,16,17].

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum | American Sweetvetch 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Roots of another sweetvetch, Hedysarum sulphurescens, are an important
early spring food for grizzly bears [23].  However, American sweetvetch
is probably not abundant enough in Glacier National Park to be an
important forage for grizzlies [1,15].


PALATABILITY : 
Other members of the genus Hedysarum are rated as palatable to sheep and
fairly so for cattle during midsummer and early fall [1].  Roots of
Hedysarym sulphurescens are highly palatable to grizzly bears.  American
sweetvetch, however, is high in tannins, which may lower its
palatability [1].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
A nutritive analysis of American sweetvetch showed that the mean percent
digestible protein was 2.4 [3].  On a nutritive value index, where
clipped dried alfalfa (Medicago sativa) had the top score of 100,
American sweetvetch rated a mean score of 12.3, which was 80 percent
lower than the overall mean of five other forbs analyzed in the study
[3].  Another study showed very different results.  Protein and fiber
quantities were similar to those of alfalfa, but American sweetvetch was
much higher in tannins than other forage legumes [1].


COVER VALUE : 
An American sweetvetch community in Alaska was the primary nesting site
for a population of dusky Canada geese.  It was also the nesting site
for several other waterfowl and birds.  A population of voles was
restricted to the area and nested in and fed on the sweetvetch.


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
American sweetvetch has been recommended for use in revegetation
projects in Alaska.  After one growing season at a subalpine site at
2,483 feet (757 m), sweetvetch seedlings showed 73 percent survival with
added topsoil and 87 percent survival without added topsoil.
Transplanting was much more successful using book-style containers than
tube-style containers [5].  In the tundra zone of the Northwest
Territories, Canada, American sweetvetch is a prominent species (about
10 percent cover) on many sites in borrow pits alongside an abandoned
highway [11].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
American sweetvetch forms nitrogen-fixing root nodules [6].  It is also
useful as bee fodder, as it is freely visited by honey bees [1].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
American sweetvetch has some potential for use as a forage species for
roadsides and small spring pastures or as a hay crop [1].  For
cultivation purposes, agronomic selection for a strain lower in tannins
is suggested.  Specimens from seeds collected at different locations
showed highly variable tannin quantities.  Strains with lower tannin
content would presumably be more palatable.  American sweetvetch is also
susceptible to a leaf spotting fungus and verticillium wilt, so
resistant strains should be sought [1].

American sweetvetch showed similar percent cover and frequency following
clearcutting as in a control.  Abundance was slightly lower after
shelterwood cutting [22].

American sweetvetch recovers slowly after cutting and produces little
regrowth compared to alfalfa [1].

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum | American Sweetvetch 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
American sweetvetch is a native, perennial forb with a woody taproot.
It grows in tufts, 8 to 30 inches (20-75 cm) high, with long, erect
stems.  The perfect flowers are papilionaceous and vary from pink to
purple.  The fruit is a flat loment, constricted into more or less oval,
indehiscent segments with four to six seeds [1,10,15,20].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Chamaephyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
American sweetvetch reproduces sexually.  The flowers are pollinated by
honey bees.  The erect stems aid in natural seed dispersal by gravity
and wind.  Field seed has shown a germination rate of 97 to 100 percent.
Scarification increases germination rate [1].  Plants grow in groups of
a few to hundreds of individuals [1,11].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
American sweetvetch grows in meadows and on slopes from low to fairly
high elevations [15].  It occurs on shale slides, roadside verges, and
forest fringes [1,20], and often occurs near water, such as on sand
bars, point bars, limey rivershores, lakeshores, and near seashores
between beach and forest [4,17,20,21].  It can grow on shallow, poorly
developed, rocky, dry, calcareous soils or in cold, wet, acidic, organic
substrates [4,7,16,17].  It does not do well in poorly drained, bog-type
woodlands [17].  American sweetvetch may occur in wetlands, although it
usually does not [19].  It survives in areas that occasionally flood
[17].

American sweetvetch is found at the following elevations [5,6,7,13].

        1,720 to 2,480 feet (525-757 m) in AK
        3,770 to 4,260 feet (1150-1300 m) in AB
        5,000 feet (1525 m) in MT
        8,100 to 8,200 feet (2470-2500 m) in WY


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
American sweetvetch begins to grow in May, earlier than other perennial
legumes.  It produces buds in June and flowers in June and July [1].
The seeds ripen in July and August; the pods ripen unevenly.  The
seedlings and mature plants are moderately tolerant to spring and fall
frosts, suffering some winterkill [1].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum | American Sweetvetch 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
American sweetvetch establishes on a burned site via wind-carried seed
[1].  Often it is present on moist sites where fire is not a great
hazard [17].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum | American Sweetvetch 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
American sweetvetch plants are killed by fire [22].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
On Willow Island (near Fairbanks, Alaska) in a white spruce/thinleaf
alder (Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia)/feathermoss (Hylocomium splendens)
forest type, American sweetvetch showed much lower percent cover and
frequency following clearcutting and burning than in a control.  There
was not such a reduction after clearcutting alone.  The species was
present in the stand within two growing seasons after the burn treatment
[22].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum | American Sweetvetch 



REFERENCES : 

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Related categories for Species: Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum | American Sweetvetch