Pink fuzzybean is a perennial wild bean native to fields and woods in the central and southeastern United States, grown mainly as a native wildflower or ground cover. It needs full sun, well-drained soil and little water once established.
Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water during dry spells while establishing, then let it rely mostly on rainfall.
Soil
Well-drained sandy or loamy soil; tolerates poor soil.
Temperature
Hardy in temperate climates; tolerates cold winters through its perennial caudex.
How easy
Easy
Native range
C. & E. U.S.A. to NE. Mexico
Climate
temperate
About
Strophostyles umbellata, commonly known as the pink fuzzybean or perennial wild bean, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to fields and woods in the southeastern and central United States. It blooms from June to September.
This species is best distinguished from its congeners by its thick, relatively straight keel petal, held close to the banner petal. It also uniquely possesses a perennial, branched caudex at its base. It is most similar morphologically to S. helvola, the differences being that S. helvola has a much thinner keel, curving away more from the banner petal throughout its length. Its leaf morphology can be highly variable, ranging from the highly lobed panduriform shape typical of Strophostyles helvola, to the thin, sericeous, lanceolate leaf typical of S. leiosperma.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Strophostyles umbellata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.