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11: Auxiliary plants

Tephrosia villosa (L.) Persoon

LEGUMINOSAE - PAPILIONOIDEAE

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

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.

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

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 x 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 x 10 mm, dorsally with dense brown hairs. Pod strongly curved, up to 4 cm x 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 x 2.5 mm. Tephrosia 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.

[8]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.
[21]Bosman, M.T.M. & de Haas, A.J.P., 1983. A revision of the genus Tephrosia (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) in Malesia. Blumea 28: 421–487.
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[52]Flora of Tropical East Africa (various editors), 1952–. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London, United Kingdom & A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
[101]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.
[113]Nasir, E. & Ali, S.I. (Editors), 1970–. Flora of (West) Pakistan. Volume 1–. Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.

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

Sosef, M.S.M. & van der Maesen, L.J.G., 1997. Tephrosia villosa (L.) Persoon. In: Faridah Hanum, I & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 11: Auxiliary plants. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea