Tephrosia villosa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Tephrosia villosa (L.) Persoon

Family: Leguminosae - Papilionoideae

Synonyms

• Galega villosa L.,
• Tephrosia incana (Roxb.) Sweet.

Distribution

Possibly native to Africa and India, now distributed in tropical and subtropical Africa, from Pakistan to Indo-China and naturalized in Indonesia (Java, Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali and Nusa Tenggara)). Occasionally also cultivated elsewhere.

Uses

A green manure and annual cover crop in Africa, tested in Indonesia. Leaf juice is used to treat dropsy and diabetes in India.

Observations

• Annual or perennial bushy herb, 0.3-1.3 m tall. Stem white tomentose.
• Leaves imparipinnately compound with 7-19 leaflets, up to 10 cm long; stipules 2-5 mm long; leaflets obovate to elliptical, up to 21 mm × 9 mm, hairy on both sides, each side with 4-8 pairs of distinct veins.
• Flowers in a terminal or upper axillary pseudoraceme 8-22 cm long; pedicel with densely matted hairs, 2-4 mm long; calyx densely matted-hairy, tube about 2 mm long, lobes long-acuminate, to 9 mm long; standard transversely elliptical to broadly ovate, up to 7 mm × 10 mm, dorsally with dense brown hairs.
• Pod strongly curved, up to 4 cm × 6 mm, densely silvery or brown-tomentose, hairs to 2 mm long, 4-10-seeded.
• Seed rectangular, with short hard excrescences, up to 3.5 mm × 2.5 mm.

T. villosa occurs in open fields, floodplains, often on sandy soils, up to 150 m altitude. It is tolerant of a long dry season and of heavy rain. In Africa it is appreciated for its dense foliage. The roots and leaves contain rotenoids.

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.
• Botton, H., 1957, 1958. Les plantes de couverture: guide pratique de reconnaissance et d'utilisation des légumineuses en Côte d'Ivoire [Cover plants: practical guide to the recognition and utilization of legumes in Ivory Coast]. Journal d'Agriculture Tropicale et de Botanique Appliquée 4: 553-615; 5: 45-172.
• Flora of Tropical East Africa (various editors), 1952-. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London, United Kingdom & A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
• 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.
• Nasir, E. & Ali, S.I. (Editors), 1970-. Flora of (West) Pakistan. Volume 1-. Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.

Authors

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