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Florida hoary-pea or goat's-rue, Florida hoarypea

dwarf goat's-rue, pineland hoarypea

Habit Herbs. Herbs.
Stems

prostrate to procumbent, 10–80 cm, glabrous or strigulose.

erect, 10–15(–20) cm, strigulose.

Leaves

petiole usually (10–)20–40 mm;

leaflets (5 or)7–13(or 15), blades bicolored (darker abaxially), narrowly oblanceolate to oblong-oblanceolate or obovate-elliptic, 17–35 × (1.5–)3–9(–11) mm, length (2.5–)3–6 times width, apex obtuse to rounded or truncate and slightly retuse, abaxial surface usually finely and evenly sparsely strigose, rarely hirsute to hirsute-strigose, hairs relatively short, not overlapping, venation distinctly reddish, adaxial glabrate.

petiole 3–10 mm;

leaflets (9–)13–27, blades elliptic to oblong or obovate-oblong, 6–12 × 4–5.5 mm, length 1.8–2.8 times width, apex obtuse or rounded to truncate, surfaces strigose, adaxial sparsely so.

Racemes

axillary and terminal, 2–6-flowered, evident (flowers well above level of leaves), 5–15(–25) cm;

floral bracts persistent, linear-subulate.

4–12-flowered, flowers mostly axillary in distal portion of leafy stems;

floral bracts caducous, setaceous.

Flowers

corolla yellowish white to white, aging dark purple, 10–14 mm;

stamens diadelphous;

style bearded.

corolla cream, pink, and white (banner cream, wings and keel dark pink to white), 13–17 mm;

stamens monadelphous;

style bearded.

Legumes

25–40 × 4–5 mm, sparsely strigulose.

36–58 × 4–5.5 mm, strigose.

Tephrosia florida

Tephrosia mohrii

Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering (Mar–)Apr–May(–Jul).
Habitat Fields, dunes, turkey oak scrub, longleaf pine savannas, pine barrens, pine-palmetto, pine-oak, pine-hardwood uplands. Sandhills and sand ridges with turkey oak or longleaf pine, mixed with yaupon, turkey oak, sand live-oak, and laurel oak, sandy roadsides.
Elevation 10–50 m. (0–200 ft.) 10–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Tephrosia florida is recognized by its relatively small, elongate, bicolored leaves with abaxial surfaces strigulose and with reddish venation (including secondary and tertiary veins).

Tephrosia × intermedia (Small) G. L. Nesom & Zarucchi is a putative hybrid between T. chrysophylla and T. florida (C. E. Wood Jr. 1949; D. Isely 1998; G. L. Nesom and J. L. Zarucchi 2009). Synonyms are Cracca intermedia Small, C. floridana Vail, C. smallii Vail, and T. × floridana (Vail) Isely. The hybrid is said to occur in association with the two putative parents, sporadically from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi, and its origin as a recurrent hybrid seems a reasonable hypothesis. According to Isely, it most closely resembles T. florida, differing in its shorter petioles and broader, fewer leaflets; both parents are variable in these features, and it is difficult to confirm that the putative hybrids are consistently intermediate in morphology. Perhaps the only sure way to identify the hybrid is to see it in the field, in company with the parents and in contrast to them.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Tephrosia mohrii is known from Covington and Houston counties in Alabama; Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton counties in Florida; and Ben Hill and Grady counties in Georgia. The species appears to intergrade with T. virginiana.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Tephrosia Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Tephrosia
Sibling taxa
T. angustissima, T. chrysophylla, T. corallicola, T. curtissii, T. hispidula, T. leiocarpa, T. lindheimeri, T. mohrii, T. mysteriosa, T. onobrychoides, T. potosina, T. rugelii, T. spicata, T. tenella, T. thurberi, T. virginiana
T. angustissima, T. chrysophylla, T. corallicola, T. curtissii, T. florida, T. hispidula, T. leiocarpa, T. lindheimeri, T. mysteriosa, T. onobrychoides, T. potosina, T. rugelii, T. spicata, T. tenella, T. thurberi, T. virginiana
Synonyms Galega florida, Cracca ambigua, C. gracillima, T. ambigua, T. ambigua var. gracillima, T. florida var. gracillima Cracca mohrii, T. virginiana var. mohrii
Name authority (F. Dietrich) C. E. Wood: Rhodora 51: 305. (1949) (Rydberg) R. K. Godfrey: Brittonia 10: 169. (1958)
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