Astragalus, Herba est Plinio. Of common apothecaries called Cicer montanum. In English it may be called, of the forme peaserthnutte. Vide Diosc. hb. 4. cap. 62.
Lewis and Short: Latin dictionary
astrăgălus, i, m., = a)stra/galos (the ankle-bone). I. In arch. A.A little round moulding in the form of a ring, which encircles the upper part of a column, an astragal, Vitr. 3, 3.—B. Lesbius, a sort of moulding carved to represent a string of pearls, a festoon, a stem with seeds of grain or olives, Vitr. 4, 6.—II.A leguminous plant, Spanish tragacanth: Astragalus Baeticus, Linn.; Plin. 26, 8, 29, 46.