Milk vetch Bot. A leguminous herb (Astragalus glycyphyllos) of Europe and Asia, supposed to increase the secretion of milk in goats.
 Note: ☞ The name is sometimes taken for the whole genus Astragalus, of which there are about two hundred species in North America, and even more elsewhere.

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 As·trag·a·lus n.
 1. Anat. The ankle bone, or hock bone; the bone of the tarsus which articulates with the tibia at the ankle.
 2. Bot. A genus of papilionaceous plants, of the tribe Galegeæ, containing numerous species, two of which are called, in English, milk vetch and licorice vetch.  Gum tragacanth is obtained from different oriental species, particularly the Astragalus gummifer and Astragalus verus.
 3. Arch. See Astragal, 1.

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 milk vetch
      n : any of various plants of the genus Astragalus [syn: milk-vetch]