Source: Wikipedia
| Tephrosia virginiana | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
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| 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] | |
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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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]- ^ a b NatureServe (1 March 2024). "Tephrosia virginiana". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Tephrosia virginiana". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Tephrosia virginiana - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org.
- ^ USDA Plants Database
- ^ "Goat's Rue". www.fs.usda.gov.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Virginia Goat's-rue (Tephrosia virginiana)". Species at risk public registry. Government of Canada. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ 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.
External links
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