''Tephrosia'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. It is widespread in both the Eastern and Western Hemisphere, where it is found in tropical and warm-temperate regions. The generic name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word τεφρος (''tephros''), meaning "ash-colored," referring to the greyish tint given to the leaves by their dense

trichome Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

s. Hoarypea is a common name for plants in this genus, along with goat's rue and devil's shoestring.

Uses

Many species in the genus are poisonous, particularly to

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, for their high concentration of

rotenone Rotenone is an odorless, colorless, crystalline isoflavone. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of several plants, such as the jicama vine, and in the roots of several other members of the Fabaceae. It was the first-described member of the ...

. The black seeds of ''Tephrosia'' species have historically been used by indigenous cultures as

fish toxins Fish toxins or fish stupefying plants have historically been used by many hunter gatherer cultures to stun fish, so they become easy to collect by hand. Some of these toxins paralyse fish, which can then be easily collected. The process of docume ...

.Hugh Scott, ''In the High Yemen'', London 1942, p. 238, note C.NTFlora Northern Territory Flora online:
''Flora of the Darwin Region: Fabaceae.''
Retrieved 10 June 2018 In the last century, several ''Tephrosia'' species have been studied in connection with the use of

as an

insecticide Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...

and

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...

. ''

Tephrosia vogelii ''Tephrosia vogelii'', the Vogel's tephrosia, fish-poison-bean or Vogel tephrosia (English), tefrósia (Portuguese) or barbasco guineano (Spanish), is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Tephrosia''. It is a herb or small tree that is nati ...

'' is also one of the many beneficial nitrogen-fixing legumes that can be used in a

permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using Systems theory, whole-systems thinking. It applies t ...

forest gardening Agroforestry (also known as agro-sylviculture or forest farming) is a land use management system that integrates trees with crops or pasture. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies. As a polyculture system, an agroforestry system c ...

system as a source of living 'chop and drop' mulch.

Selected species

Species include: *''

Tephrosia arenicola ''Tephrosia arenicola'' is a plant in the Fabaceae family, native to the north of Western Australia. The species has no synonyms. Description ''Tephrosia arenicola'' is shrub covered with dense intertwined hairs (tomentose). The shrub consists ...

'' Maconochie *''

Tephrosia candida ''Tephrosia candida'', the white hoarypea, is a perennial shrub, native to India, in the legume family. It has been introduced to Malesia, South America, Africa, South East Asia and Australia. Etymology The genus name, ''Tephrosia'', derives ...

'' (Roxb.) DC. *''

Tephrosia chrysophylla ''Tephrosia chrysophylla'', commonly known as scurf hoarypea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is a perennial dicot The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into ...

'' Pursh *'' Tephrosia clementii'' Skan *''

Tephrosia elongata ''Tephrosia elongata'' is a plant native to Africa south of the equator. It occurs from northern and eastern South Africa to the highlands of Malawi and Tanzania. Varieties Three varieties are recognized: * ''Tephrosia elongata'' E.Mey. var. '' ...

'' E.Mey. *''

Tephrosia glomeruliflora ''Tephrosia glomeruliflora'', or pink tephrosia, is a perennial (non-climbing) herb in the family Fabaceae, endemic to South Africa (native to Zimbabwe, South Africa and Eswatini). It is also found on the eastern coast of Australia, in New South ...

'' Meissner *''

Tephrosia mysteriosa ''Tephrosia mysteriosa'', commonly known as sandhill tippitoes, is a species of legume first described by Kris DeLaney in 2010. It grows on sandhills and is endemic to the Lake Wales and Mount Dora Ridges of Florida. DeLaney collected the t ...

'' DeLaney *''

Tephrosia odorata ''Tephrosia odorata'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to Socotra in Yemen. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), d ...

'' Balf.f. *''

Tephrosia onobrychoides ''Tephrosia onobrychoides'', commonly called multi-bloom hoary pea, is a species of plant in the pea family that is native to Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama in the United States of America The United States ...

'' Nutt. *''

Tephrosia pondoensis ''Tephrosia pondoensis'' (pondo poison pea, ) is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in the Cape Provinces of South Africa, where it is protected under thNational Forest Act(Act 84) of 1998. The pondo poison pea is threate ...

'' (Codd) Schrire *''

Tephrosia purpurea ''Tephrosia purpurea'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It grows in poor soils as a common wasteland weed and has a pantropical distribution. It is a type of legume native to south-western Asia (the Levant, Arabian Penins ...

'' (L.) Pers. *''

Tephrosia socotrana ''Tephrosia socotrana'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. Distribution The plant is endemic to the East African island of Socotra in the Red Sea, that is politically a territory within West Asian Yemen. Its natural habitat is rocky ...

'' Thulin *''

Tephrosia spinosa ''Tephrosia spinosa'' is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Tephrosia'' native from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the In ...

'' (L.f.) Pers. *''

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. Descript ...

'' *''

'' Hook.f.

References

External links

* * l
Plantilustrations.org: ''Tephrosia''.
(Botanical illustrations for ''Tephrosia'' species.) * * {{Authority control Fabaceae genera Taxa named by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Uses

Selected species

See also

References

External links