3718.000 Tephrosia Pers.

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs. Hairs basifixed. Leaves usually imparipinnate, rarely palmate or 1-foliolate; leaflets opposite or subopposite, often silky, entire, usually narrowed at base and widest above middle, often with a prominent marginal nerve. Flowers 2 or more together in leaf axils or at the nodes of pseudoracemes, which are sometimes condensed and appearing subcapitate or subumbellate. Calyx 5-lobed, the upper 2 lobes often ± united. Corolla usually reddish-purple; standard pubescent outside. Upper filament lightly attached to others, less often free; other filaments fused for 2/3 to 4/5 of their length. Ovary pubescent, sessile. Pod linear or oblong, ± flattened, beaked, usually dehiscent. Seeds may be longitudinal (long axis parallel to that of pod), transverse or oblique. Aril almost 0 to well-developed.

Worldwide: 400 species in warm regions, mostly Africa and Australia

Angola: 0 cultivated taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Mocis mayeri (Brown Lines) Larval food plant
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Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent

Other sources of information about Tephrosia:

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Tephrosia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Tephrosia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Tephrosia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Tephrosia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Tephrosia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Tephrosia
JSTOR Plant Science: Tephrosia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Tephrosia
Plants of the World Online: Tephrosia
Tropicos: Tephrosia
Wikipedia: Tephrosia

Copyright: The Angola flora team, 2026

The Angola flora team (2026). Flora of Angola: Cultivated plants: Genus page: Tephrosia.
https://www.angolaflora.com/cult/genus.php?genus_id=726, retrieved 9 September 2026

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