Hedysarum boreale aka Utah Sweet Vetch

Hedysarum boreale is in the pea family, known as Fabaceae. It is a perennial, so it lives for more than one growing season. It has several common names. These include sweet vetch, northern sweetvetch, and Utah sweetvetch. Plants For A Future also uses northern chainpod and bear’s potato. In that source, all these names mean the same species. The Royal Horticultural Society accepts its scientific name as correct. Its profile places it in the pea family too.

Kew gives its native range as the northern Russian Far East to the western and central United States. Plants For A Future lists it across Canada. It also lists records in parts of the United States. In Canada, its list includes Yukon and the Northwest Territories. It names British Columbia and the Prairie provinces too. The list also covers Ontario and Québec. Newfoundland and Labrador appear on that list as well. The RHS says it is not native to Britain or Ireland.

Kew says this perennial grows in temperate regions. The supplied species accounts do not state its full-grown height. They do not give its spread, or width, either. They give no details on its stems or leaves. Nor do they describe the form of its roots. None of these species accounts describes its flowers or fruit. Thus, this evidence cannot give a firm picture of its garden size. It cannot show what display to expect through the seasons.

Accounts differ on the use of the roots as food. Plants For A Future cites past accounts that call them edible. Other accounts warn that eating the roots may cause illness. Its summary says modern sources on traditional plant use urge care. It draws a line between this species and Hedysarum alpinum. The roots of that plant played an important role as food. That history does not show that Hedysarum boreale is safe to eat.

The evidence here does not settle whether its roots are safe to eat. Nor does it show a safe way to prepare them. These accounts give no light, soil, or water needs for this species. They give no supported range for its hardiness. Nor do they state when it flowers. They do not report landscape uses, pests, or diseases. More detailed claims on growing and food use concern a taxon with a different name. Those claims do not apply here.