Tephrosia chrysophylla

Tephrosia chrysophylla
Photo by Shirley Denton (Copyrighted, use by photographer’s permission only), Nature Photography by Shirley Denton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae ⁄ Leguminosae
Genus:	Tephrosia
Species:	T. chrysophylla
Binomial name
Tephrosia chrysophylla Pursh
Natural range of Tephrosia chrysophylla from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: scurf hoarypea

Description

Tephrosia chrysophylla has been described as a prostrate herb with deep red flowers and a leaflet with parallel straight nerves (FSU Herbarium).

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain, T. chrysophylla can occur in longleaf pine-oak-wiregrass woodlands, sand pine scrubs, pine/wiregrass communities, scrub oak wiregrass sandhills, and upland turkey oak longleaf pinewoods. It has been observed in disturbed areas such as along logging roads, a clear cut disturbed longleaf pine scrub oak ridge, an open sand ridge plowed three years previously, a bulldozed clearing in turkey oak longleaf pine, a sandy old quarry, a clobbered slash pine forest, and coarse sandy clearing of longleaf pine scrub oak barren (FSU Herbarium). Soil types include loamy sand, sand, and sandy peat (FSU Herbarium). Associated species include longleaf pine, wiregrass, sand pine, slash pine, turkey oak, and scrub oak (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

Flowering occurs June through September and fruiting May through October (FSU Herbarium).

Fire ecology

It has been observed growing in burned pine flatwoods (FSU Herbarium).

Pollination

The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Tephrosia chrysophylla at Archbold Biological Station (Deyrup 2015):

Halictidae: Nomia maneei

Megachilidae: Megachile brimleyi, M. georgica

References and notes

Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: November 2015. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, A.F. Clewell, M. Davis, Robert K. Godfrey, Ann F. Johnson, R. Komarek, Robert Kral, Robert L. Lazor, K. MacClendon, R.S. Mitchell, Gwynn W. Ramsey, H.R. Reed, Grady W. Reinert, Cecil R. Slaughter, John K. Small, D.B. Ward States and Counties: Alabama: Covington, Geneva. Florida: Calhoun, Citrus, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hernando, Highlands, Leon, Liberty, Okaloosa, Putnam, Suwannee, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton. Georgia: Grady. Mississippi: Poplarville. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.