''Tephrosia candida'', the white hoarypea, is a perennial shrub, native to India, in the legume family. It has been introduced to Malesia,

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, South East Asia and

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Etymology

The genus name, ''Tephrosia'', derives from the Greek ''tephros'' (ash-coloured) and refers to the fact that most of the species are covered with grey hairs.Electronic Flora of South Australia genus Fact Sheet: ''Tephrosia''
''www.flora.sa.gov.au''. Retrieved 19 December 2018. The species epithet, ''candida'', derives from the Latin adjective, ''candidus,-a,-um'', meaning pure white.Plantillustrations.org: ''Tephrosia candida''.
''Botanicalillustrations.org''. Retrieved 19 December 2018.

Agricultural benefits

In Zimbabwe, the use of different taxa of the genus '' Tephrosia'' has been studied as a way to enrich soils by

intercropping Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice that involves the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field, a form of polyculture. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land ...

when growing maize. This allows continual nourishment of the soil. Specifically, ''T. candida'' was proven to successfully grow in conditions of high population density, yet further research into this growth option is required.Mafongoya, P. L., et al. “Tephrosia species and provenances for improved fallows in southern Africa”. Agroforestry Systems. 59(2003): 279-288. To further investigate the genus '' Tephrosia'' and its effective growth in stressful habitats, researchers at the University of Zimbabwe studied carbon and nitrogen mineralization patterns of this legume. Mineralization, or the decomposition of organic matter, provides fixed nitrogen for other plants to use. They found that ''Tephrosia'' released nitrogen at a slow rate. This pattern could be due to nitrogen binding to polyphenols, or natural organic molecules. This prevents subsequent loss of nitrogen and promotes crop uptake along with nitrogen release. Polyphenol to nitrogen ratios within plants can give evidence toward the quality of biomass and can predict the nitrogen release pattern. While there exist several ''Tephrosia'' taxa that exhibit slow nitrogen release, many possess rapid rates of nitrogen release as well. Rapid release is not necessarily compatible with intercropping because it does not share this pattern with maize. However, the slow release of nitrogen in the ''T. candida'' species is able to synchronize with the nitrogen demand of maize, benefiting the remaining maize in the following season. Other benefits of ''T. candida'' include higher biomass production, nematode resistance, closed canopy growth and weed suppression.

Introduced/invasive

It is on the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species for the following countries and islands:

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Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia ( Pohnpei, Yap and State of Chuuk),

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, Niue, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.GBIF: ''Tephrosia candida''.
Retrieved 20 December 2018.

References

External links

Occurrence data from GBIF for ''Tephrosia candida''

Plants of the world online: ''Tephrosia candida''.
(gives a good plant description and overview) {{Taxonbar, from=Q15244677 candida Flora of the Indian subcontinent Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Plants described in 1825