Tephrosia virginiana


Tephrosia virginiana, also known as goat-rue, goat's rue, catgut, rabbit pea, Virginia tephrosia, hoary pea, and devil's shoestring is a perennial dicot in family Fabaceae. The plant is native to central and eastern North America.

Description

This subshrub is low and bushy, growing to, but more often shorter. Its leaves are alternate and compound, usually with 8 to 15 pairs of narrow, oblong leaflets. Soft white hairs on the leaves and the stem give them a silvery, or hoary, appearance.
The flowers look similar to other flowers in the pea family and are bi-colored, with a pale yellow or cream upper petal, and pink petals on the bottom. 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 long.
The roots are long and stringy, which is probably the source of the common names catgut and devil's shoestrings.

Distribution and habitat

This plant prefers acidic soils, in part to full sun. It grows throughout the Midwest, New England and southeastern United States. Not easy to propagate because of the relationship it has with the acid soil it needs, this plant can be found in sand savannas, open woods and glades, prairies and rocky soils.

Toxicity

All tissues of this plant are toxic, and should not be eaten by people or livestock. Crushed stems were previously used as a fish poison.

Conservation

While ranked as secure rangewide by NatureServe, T. virginiana has been listed as an endangered species in Canada under Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act since 2003. Only two populations exist within black oak savanna and black oak woodland in Ontario.

Historical uses

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.