Stylosanthes biflora
Stylosanthes biflora, known by the common names pencil flower, sidebeak pencilflower, and endbeak pencilflower, is a species of flowering plant in the Fabaceae family. It is native to the Southeastern United States where it is widespread in open areas of native vegetation. It produces yellow-orange flowers in the summer and fall.
This species is highly variable throughout its range, and numerous species had previously been segregated out of it. However, their morphological differences have been found to be so overlapping that the former segregates are now considered the same species.
Description
S. biflora is a branching perennial that grows tall. The stems are wiry, round, hairy, and light to medium green. Each compound leaf has three leaflets and are alternate on the stems. The leaflets measure long and are elliptic in shape. They have smooth margins. A pair of partly joined bracts, or stipules, tapering to a beak, surrounds the base of each petiole and part of the adjacent stem.The flowers are orange to yellow and are similar to others in the pea family. The petals consist of large standard top) petal and smaller wings and keel, subtended by bracts. The flowers are nearly circular in shape.