Uses
Hedysarum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (moth and butterfly) species including Coleophora accordella. Some species, such as Hedysarum alpinum also known as Alpine Sweetvetch, were eaten by the Inuit to help ward off the effects of scurvy due to it being rich in vitamin C, containing about 21 mg/100g. Charles Darwin also called the telegraph plant a Hedysarum.
In his book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer speculates that Christopher McCandless died from eating seeds of H. alpinum, which Krakauer further speculates to contain swainsonine. The fact that McCandless stored these seeds wet and in a plastic bag is also hypothesized to have created a toxic by-product.
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