SummaryA modern treatment of the European species of the genus Astragalus with complete descriptions of all species and a key is given. Excluded are the species which occur only in the former Soviet Union (Baltic states, White Russia, Ukraine, Moldavia and Russia itself) and those of Turkey in Europe, because these will by treated by ANDREJ SYTIN (St. Petersburg) in a special paper and due to the fact, that I could not investigate enough material of all the species concerned. 112 species will be treated here. ZusammenfassungDie Gattung Astragalus L. (Fabaceae) in Europa unter Ausschluss der früheren Sowjetunion Eine moderne Bearbeitung der europäischen Arten der Gattung Astragalus mit vollständigen Beschreibungen aller Arten und einem Bestimmungsschlüssel wird vorgelegt. Ausgeschlossen sind diejenigen Arten, welche nur in der ehemaligen Sowjetunion (Baltische Staaten, Belarus/Weißrussland, Ukraine, Moldavien und Russland selbst) sowie der Europäi-schen Türkei vorkommen, weil sie von ANDREJ SYTIN (St. Petersburg) in einer eigenen Arbeit behandelt werden und ich selbst zuwenig Material derselben untersuchen konnte. 112 Arten werden hier behandelt.

SynopsisAstragalus, excluding Astracantha (formerly Astragalus subgenus Tragacantha), has a world total of c. 2500 species, of which c. 500 are in the New World; it is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The estimated number of species in the Flora Iranica area is c. 900–1000. Because of the huge size of the genus, no one person is familiar with all its groups; although 150 sections have been described, many are poorly delimited, often not typified and many untenable. In the Old World the genus is almost entirely restricted to the northern hemisphere. Sections with primitive characters mostly contain mesophytic species widespread in mountains and relatively humid regions; in the more advanced sections the species are adapted to dry or arid conditions.Only a few sections are strictly endemic to the Flora Iranica area (e.g. sects. Microphysa, Acanthophace, Leucocercis). In 2 of the better known large sections (Astragalus and Caprini) there are 2 main centres of diversity: the Armenian knot and the Zagros mountains; Afghanistan and the adjacent Pamir-Alai region. Their patterns of distribution and migration are probably repeated in several other sections in the genus.

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Astragalus is a species-rich genus occurring in the western arid habitats in China and its diversification and infrageneric relationships in this region remain unclear. In the present study, based on molecular data, we aim to (i) test whether Phyllolobium (previously treated as a subgenus Pogonophace in Astragalus) should be warranted; and (ii) date the origin of Phyllolobium and probable diversification of Astragalus sensu stricto (s.s.). We sequenced five species from Phyllolobium first and collected all related sequences from the genus, Astragalus s.s and their close relatives (Oxytropis and Caragana etc.). Our phylogenetic analyses suggested that all species of Phyllolobium comprise a monophyletic sister-group to genera of the subtribe Coluteinae. Molecular dating suggested that Phyllolobium and Astragalus s.s. originated around 8 and 10 million years ago. These two estimates are highly consistent with the intense uplifts of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau inferred from geological evidence. In addition, one section of Pogonophace (Sect. Robusti) was estimated to originate 2.5 million years ago and this section with a tendency for dry habitats seems to be evidence of Asian intensified aridity resulting from the intense uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.