Tephrosia spicata |
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spike hoary-pea |
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Habit | Herbs. |
Stems | erect to ascending or decumbent-ascending, 30–60 cm, strigose to hirsute or glabrate. |
Leaves | petiole (2–)5–15 mm; leaflets (7 or)9–13(–17), blades concolorous, oblanceolate to obovate, elliptic-obovate, or oblong-obovate, 8–28(–40) × 6–16 mm, length 1.5–3.5(–5) times width, apex rounded to truncate, abaxial surface moderately to densely strigose to strigose-hirsute, hairs relatively long and overlapping, venation greenish, adaxial glabrous or strigose-hirsute, venation raised. |
Racemes | (3–)5–15(–20)-flowered, evident (flowers well above level of leaves), 10–20(–40) cm; floral bracts persistent, lanceolate. |
Flowers | corolla yellowish white, becoming pink to red, drying purple, 13–18 mm; stamens diadelphous; style bearded. |
Legumes | 20–40 × 3.5–4.5 mm, hirsute-villous, glabrescent. |
2n | = 22. |
Tephrosia spicata |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Dry or wet, open pine or mixed woods, pine-palmetto scrub, pineland bogs, pine savannas, clearings, field margins, roadsides. |
Elevation | 10–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA
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Discussion | Tephrosia spicata is recognized by its numerous leaflets with raised adaxial venation and long, ebracteate peduncles with long racemes. Cracca flexuosa (Vail) A. Heller is a later homonym that pertains here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Tephrosia |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Galega spicata, Cracca spicata, T. spicata var. semitonsa |
Name authority | (Walter) Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 296. (1838) |
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