Tephrosia noctiflora (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Tephrosia noctiflora Bojer ex Baker

Family: Leguminosae - Papilionoideae

Synonyms

• Tephrosia subamoena Prain,
• T. hookeriana Wight & Arnott var. amoena Prain.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: nila hutan (Indonesian), tom sapi, tom gatal (Sumatra)
• Malaysia: petai balong kecil (Penang), kolo thakarai (Tamil), kacang bulu.

Distribution

Native to tropical and subtropical Africa and probably India; naturalized in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and in the Antilles. Occasionally cultivated pantropically.

Uses

A cover crop and green manure plant, that can be cut several times, grown in wet rice fields, in young rubber and coconut plantations. It is sometimes planted as a contour hedge; also used as fish poison.

Observations

• Sparsely branched, annual herb or shrub, 1.5-2 m tall. Stem densely covered with pale brown, spreading and appressed hairs.
• Leaves imparipinnately compound with 12-25 leaflets; petiole 1-2.5 cm long; rachis 6-12.5 cm long; leaflets obovate to elliptical, 1-4.5 cm × 3-10 mm, mucronate, glabrous above, appressed hairy below.
• Inflorescence a terminal, axillary or leaf-opposed pseudoraceme to 35 cm long; peduncle 3-16 cm long; flowers in clusters of 1-5 in axil of narrow bracts; pedicel 2-5 mm long.
• Calyx 5-7 mm long, densely hairy; standard 10-13 mm long and wide, purple towards the centre, margins white; wings 5-8 mm long, purple above, white below; keel purple.
• Pod 3-6 cm × 0.5 cm, 5-10-seeded, covered with rust-coloured hairs.
• Seed reniform, plump, about 3.5 mm long, dark brown, reticulate.

T. noctiflora is found naturalized in Java up to 700 m altitude, in grassy areas, ruderal locations, and river banks. Young plants do not withstand heavy rain, older plants withstand waterlogging. It is self-pollinating and nodulates well. The aerial parts contain gamma-glutamyltyraminine. T. noctiflora is often confused with T. purpurea (L.) Persoon.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr., R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. 647, 641, 761 pp.
• Bosman, M.T.M. & de Haas, A.J.P., 1983. A revision of the genus Tephrosia (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) in Malesia. Blumea 28: 421-487.
• Hacker, J.B., 1990. A guide to herbaceous and shrub legumes of Queensland. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Australia. 351 pp.
• Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, the Hague, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 261, 1450 pp.
• Mansfeld, R., 1986. Verzeichnis landwirtschaflicher und gärtnerischer Kulturpflanzen (ohne Zierpflanzen) [Register of cultivated agricultural and horticultural plants (without ornamentals)]. Schultze-Motel, J. et al., editors 2nd edition, 4 volumes. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 1998 pp.
• Verdcourt, B., 1979. A manual of New Guinea legumes. Botany Bulletin No 11. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 645 pp.
• Wealth of India (various editors), 1948-1976. A dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products: raw materials. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India. 4441 pp.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen