Galega orientalis Seeds | Eastern Goat’s Rue

Eastern goat's rue in flower, upright racemes of lilac-blue pea flowers above pinnate leaves — Eastern Goat’s Rue (*Galega orientalis*): Fabaceae, the long-lived Caucasian fodder legume of the metformin genus.

LATIN NAME: Galega orientalis

COMMON NAME: Eastern Goat’s Rue

Plant Profile

Eastern goat’s rue is a long-lived forage legume from the meadows and forest edges of the Caucasus, and it has been grown in eastern Europe as a hay and silage crop for the best part of a century. It is an upright, clump-forming perennial, about a metre tall, with hollow stems, pinnate leaves of five to ten pairs of oblong leaflets, and dense, upright racemes of lilac-blue to violet pea flowers in early summer.

The plant spreads slowly by rhizome into a solid crown and can persist in a sward for ten to fifteen years, which is unusually long for a forage legume and is the main reason it is valued. The pods are small and bear four to six kidney-shaped seeds, and the whole plant dries well, retaining its leaves better than lucerne.

Science & Biotechnology

The species is a nitrogen fixer, nodulating with its own specific rhizobia, and it will not nodulate properly with inoculum intended for clover or lucerne; this is a practical point that catches out first-time growers. Its protein content and digestibility have been measured extensively in Russian and Baltic trials, where it compared well with lucerne and red clover in yield and persistence, particularly on acid, poorly drained soils where lucerne fails.

The genus is also the source of galegine, a guanidine alkaloid that formed the starting point for the biguanide drugs and, through them, for metformin. That chemistry is concentrated in Galega officinalis, the medicinal species; eastern goat’s rue carries it at lower levels, but the connection is why the genus appears in pharmacology textbooks and why the plant is never treated as a casual herb.

Uses & Benefits

As a forage plant it gives two or three cuts a year of leafy, protein-rich hay, and it is one of the few legumes that will persist on wet, heavy ground. It is also a good bee plant, flowering heavily in early summer when the clover is not yet out, and it makes a useful green manure or understorey in a perennial system because its deep roots and nitrogen fixation feed the soil around it.

In the garden it works as a tall, sturdy border perennial with an upright habit that does not need staking, and it is tough enough for a wildflower strip or a rough grass area. It is not a plant for eating: the alkaloids make it unpalatable and mildly toxic to people, and it should be treated as livestock forage and ornament, not as a herb. The flowers are excellent for cutting and last well in water.

Growing from Seed

The seed is hard-coated, and germination improves markedly with scarification. Nick the coat with sandpaper or a file, or soak in hot water that is allowed to cool for twelve hours, then sow in a light compost at about twenty degrees. Germination takes two to three weeks.

If the plants are for a field or a poor site, inoculate with the correct Galega rhizobium at sowing. Grow the seedlings on in pots until they are well rooted, then plant out in spring or early autumn, thirty centimetres apart, in any soil that does not dry out completely. Cut back the flower stems after the first flush to encourage a second, and divide old crowns every five or six years if they become woody in the middle.

Our Take

A persistent, soil-building perennial for hard ground, with a remarkable place in the history of diabetes medicine. Give it wet ground and a mower and it will hold the corner for a decade.

Herb Seeds