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Tephrosia virginiana

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Tephrosia virginiana

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Tephrosia
Species:
T. virginiana
Binomial name
Tephrosia virginiana
Synonyms[2]
  • Cracca holosericea (Nutt.) Britten & Baker f.
  • Cracca latidens Small
  • Cracca leucosericea Rydb.
  • Cracca virginiana L.
  • Galega virginiana (L.) L.
  • Galega virginica (L.) J.F.Gmel.
  • Tephrosia holosericea Nutt.
  • Tephrosia latidens (Small) Standl.
  • Tephrosia leucosericea (Rydb.) Cory
  • Tephrosia virginica Bigelow

Tephrosia virginiana, also known as goat-rue, goat's rue,[3] catgut,[3] rabbit pea,[3] Virginia tephrosia,[3] hoary pea,[4] and devil's shoestring[5] is a perennial dicot in family Fabaceae. The plant is native to central and eastern North America.

Description

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This subshrub is low and bushy, growing to 60 centimetres (2 ft), but more often shorter. Its leaves are alternate and compound, usually with 8 to 15 pairs of narrow, oblong leaflets.[4] Soft white hairs on the leaves and the stem give them a silvery, or hoary, appearance.[6]

The flowers look similar to other flowers in the pea family and are bi-colored, with a pale yellow or cream upper petal (the standard), and pink petals on the bottom (the keel and wings).[5] The flowers are grouped into clusters at the top of the stems and bloom from May to August. The seed pods that form after the flowers bloom are small, approximately 5 centimetres (2 in) long.[4]

The roots are long and stringy, which is probably the source of the common names catgut and devil's shoestrings.[5]

Distribution and habitat

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This plant prefers acidic soils, in part to full sun.[7] It grows throughout the Midwest, New England and southeastern United States.[8] Not easy to propagate because of the relationship it has with the acid soil it needs,[9] this plant can be found in sand savannas, open woods and glades, prairies and rocky soils.[4]

Toxicity

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All tissues of this plant are toxic (containing rotenone), and should not be eaten by people or livestock. Crushed stems were previously used as a fish poison.[10]

Conservation

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While ranked as secure rangewide by NatureServe,[1] T. virginiana has been listed as an endangered species in Canada under Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act since 2003.[11] Only two populations exist within black oak savanna and black oak woodland in Ontario.[11]

Historical uses

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According to James Mooney, Cherokee Indian women used to wash their hair in a decoction made from its roots to prevent their hair from breaking or falling out.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b NatureServe (1 March 2024). "Tephrosia virginiana". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  2. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d "Tephrosia virginiana". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Denison, Edgar (2017). Missouri Wildflowers (Sixth ed.). Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-887247-59-7.
  5. ^ a b c "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org.
  6. ^ "Tephrosia virginiana (Catgut, Devil's Shoestring, Goat's Rue, Hoary Pea, North American Turkey Pea, Virginia Goat's Rue, Virginia Tephrosia, Wild Sweetpea) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox". plants.ces.ncsu.edu.
  7. ^ "Tephrosia virginiana - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org.
  8. ^ USDA Plants Database
  9. ^ "Goat's Rue". www.fs.usda.gov.
  10. ^ Zhang, Peiwen; Qin, Deqiang; Chen, Jianjun; Zhang, Zhixiang (21 October 2020). "Plants in the Genus Tephrosia: Valuable Resources for Botanical Insecticides". Insects. 11 (10): 721. doi:10.3390/insects11100721. PMC 7589259. PMID 33096762.
  11. ^ a b "Virginia Goat's-rue (Tephrosia virginiana)". Species at risk public registry. Government of Canada. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  12. ^ Mooney, James (1891). "The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees". Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. pp. 301–398. OCLC 747738317., s.v. Selected List of Plants Used
  • Peterson, Lee. (1977) A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. p. 82.
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