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Tephrosia virginiana
Also called Goat's Rue, Rabbit Pea, Catgut, Virginia Goat's Rue, Cat Gut, Rabbit's Pea, Virginia Goat’s Rue
A low, bushy, silvery-leaved perennial subshrub from central and eastern North America, usually under 60 cm tall. It thrives in full sun and acidic, sandy, well-drained soil.
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.
All tissues of this plant are toxic (containing rotenone), and should not be eaten by people or livestock. Crushed stems were previously used as a fish poison.
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.
Tephrosia arenicola · White hoarypea · Scurf hoarypea · Tephrosia clementii · Tephrosia elongata · Florida hoarypea · Pink Tephrosia · Sprawling hoarypea · Sandhill Tippetoes · Tephrosia odorata · Multibloom hoarypea · Pondo Poison Pea
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tephrosia virginiana 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.
