Tennessee Ground Plum

Astragalus tennesseensis

Found in calcareous glades. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

Strong

Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 76%

Height: Up to about 20 inches
Light: Sun, Part shade
Soil moisture: Dry to moist

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Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle: Perennial

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 4 Alabama counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Limestone cedar glade. Shown: Cedar Glade Number 5, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Catoosa County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Cedar Glade Number 5, Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP, Catoosa County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 84 animals.

Great Crested Flycatcher
Myiarchus crinitus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Horned Lark
Eremophila alpestris
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Loggerhead Shrike
Lanius ludovicianus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Long-eared Owl
Asio otus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Melanerpes carolinus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Short-eared Owl
Asio flammeus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Wood Thrush
Hylocichla mustelina
Birds. 1 shared habitat

All wildlife of Alabama

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL

Genus host records with ranges including AL · Astragalus

Abaeis nicippeSleepy Orange, Sleepy Yellow, Erratic Orange
Cecropterus bathyllusSouthern Cloudywing
Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
Colias philodiceClouded Sulphur, Clover Butterfly
Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
Dicymolomia julianalisJulia's Dicymolomia
Digrammia eremiataThree-Lined Angle
Epargyreus clarusSilver-Spotted Skipper
Gesta baptisiaeWild Indigo Duskywing, Baptisia Duskywing

Show all 13

Glaucopsyche lygdamusSilvery Blue
Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

7BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Astragalus

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

1Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Astragalus

Anthidium clypeodentatum

Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Astragalus

Alectoris chukarChukar
Centrocercus urophasianusGreater Sage-Grouse
Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Fabaceae
Flower color: White, yellow or green

Growing sources and scope

Flower color · “White, yellow or green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Height · “Up to about 20 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Light · “Sun; Part shade” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Soil · “Dry; Moist” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Also known as

Tennessee Milkvetch

Conservation status

Alabama rank	S1S2
Global rank	Not available
AL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source

In your garden

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Tennessee Ground Plum

At a glance

Natural habitats

Also found with this plant

Who uses this plant?

Plant details

Conservation status

Will it fit your yard?

Sources

More Astragalus