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

multi-bloom hoary-pea, multibloom tephrosia

Habit Herbs. Herbs.
Stems

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

usually ascending to decumbent or reclining, rarely erect, 2–6(–10) cm, strigose to hirsute.

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 20–60 mm;

leaflets (9–)13–25(–29), blades obovate, elliptic to oblong-oblanceolate, or linear-oblanceolate, (15–)20–50 × 4–16(–20) mm, length 2.5–5 times width, apex obtuse to rounded or truncate, abaxial surface strigose, adaxial glabrous.

Racemes

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

floral bracts persistent, linear-subulate.

(12–)20–45-flowered, (10–)20–40 cm;

floral bracts persistent, linear-subulate.

Flowers

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

stamens diadelphous;

style bearded.

corolla white or pink and white, becoming red to purple, 15–18 mm;

stamens monadelphous;

style bearded.

Legumes

25–40 × 4–5 mm, sparsely strigulose.

40–80 × 4–5 mm, evenly hirsute to hirsutulous or short-strigose.

Tephrosia florida

Tephrosia onobrychoides

Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Fields, dunes, turkey oak scrub, longleaf pine savannas, pine barrens, pine-palmetto, pine-oak, pine-hardwood uplands. Fencerows, roadsides, fields, wet ditches, prairie strips along railroads, prairies, pine and pine-oak woods, longleaf pine woodlands, pineland bogs, sand, sandy clay, gravelly clay.
Elevation 10–50 m. (0–200 ft.) 10–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; LA; MS; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

In Texas, Tephrosia onobrychoides is known from numerous counties in the eastern half of the state.

(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. mohrii, T. mysteriosa, 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 angustifolia, C. onobrychoides, C. texana, T. angustifolia, T. multiflora, T. onobrychoides var. texana, T. texana
Name authority (F. Dietrich) C. E. Wood: Rhodora 51: 305. (1949) Nuttall: J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 7: 104. (1834)
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