tragacanth

Any of several spiny Asian shrubs of the genus Astragalus of the pea family, especially A. gummifer, of the Middle East, yielding a gum used in pharmaceuticals, adhesives, and textile printing, and as an emulsifier and thickener in foods.

The gum of any of these plants.

A mucilaginous substance, the product of several low, spiny shrubs of the genus Astragalus, among them A. gummifer. A. eriostylus, A. adscendens, A. brachycalyx, and A. microcephalus, plants found in the mountains of Asia Minor and neighboring lands.

A kind of gum procured from a spiny leguminous shrub (Astragalus gummifer) of Western Asia, and other species of Astragalus. It comes in hard whitish or yellowish flakes or filaments, and is nearly insoluble in water, but slowly swells into a mucilaginous mass, which is used as a substitute for gum arabic in medicine and the arts. Called also gum tragacanth.

a polysaccharide gum, extracted from several species of leguminous plants of the genus Astragalus, used as a food additive

a gum used in pharmacy, adhesives, and textile printing