Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: chang xu hui mao dou

English: South African hoarypea

Habit:  herb

Description: 

Genus: "Herbs or shrubs with soft wood, stipulate; leaves alternate, imparipinnate (rarely simple, unifoliolate, or palmately 3-7-foliolate, but in none of our [Fijian] species), estipellate, the leaflets opposite, entire, with numerous parallel lateral nerved extending to margin and often with a well-developed marginal nerve; inflorescences pseudoracemose, terminal, leaf-opposed, or less often axillary, bracteate, the flowers usually 2 or more together, lacking bracteoles; calyx 5-loved, the lobes or teeth subequal or the upper 2 subconnate; petals 5, usually yellow to purple, clawed, the standard suborbicular, without basal auricles, pilose without, the wings slightly adherent to keel, the keel petals auriculate at base of blade; stamens 10, the filaments connate into a sheath, the vexillary filament free at base, subconnate with the others above middle, infrequently free; intrastaminal disk usually present; ovary sessile, the ovules usually many (1-22), the style incurved or inflexed, the stigma terminal, often penicillate; fruit linear or oblong, compressed, beaked, usually pilose, dehiscent (often explosively so, the valves then becoming twisted), the seeds longitudinally to transversely arranged."  (Smith, 1985; pp. 172-173).

Species: "Herbs, perennial, suffrutescent, 0.5-1.5 m tall. Stems terete, with dense spreading trichomes. Stipules narrowly triangular, 6-11 mm, persistent, apex acuminate. Leaves 15-25-foliolate; rachis 7-11 cm, including petiole 0.7-1.3 cm; leaflet blades oblong-oblanceolate, 2.2-3.2 x 0.5-0.8 cm with terminal one slightly larger than others, abaxially densely appressed sericeous, adaxially glabrous, secondary veins 9-11 on each side of midvein, base cuneate, apex rounded to retuse and cuspidate. Pseudoracemes terminal, 15-25 cm, rigid and straight, with scattered flowers. Pedicel 2-4 mm. Flowers ca. 1 cm. Calyx ca. 5 x 5 mm, densely brown pubescent; teeth unequal, most abaxial one 4-6 mm and narrow, other ones short and broad. Corolla yellow, violet, or white; standard orbicular, brown sericeous. Ovary sericeous, with numerous ovules. Legume linear, 4.5-5 cm x ca. 5 mm, straight, densely brown pubescent, apex ascending curved. Seeds 7-9 per legume, black, reniform, ca. 4 x 2.5 mm, usually transversely rugose"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "cultivated near sea level" (Smith, 1985; pp. 172-173).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Eastern Africa and Madagascar to India, cultivated and often naturalized elsewhere" (Smith, 1985; pp. 172-173).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (pp. 172-173) Voucher cited: DA 8490 (FDA 13678)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 91) Vouchers cited: Cribs 737, Le Rat 131, MacKee 2443, Schmid s.n. s.loc., MacKee 11477, MacKee 20713, Schmid 2703 (NOU), MacKee 29741
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 97)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	native	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 113)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced invasive	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Introduced and escaped in ravines near shorelines, coastal grasslands; below 100-700 m. Guangdong, Yunnan".
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Indonesia Indonesia	West Papua Province (Indonesia) (western New Guinea Island) (formerly Irian Jaya)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 85) Naturalised
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	introduced invasive	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Introduced and escaped in ravines near shorelines, coastal grasslands; below 100-700 m".

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Comoros Comoro Islands	Comoro Islands	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Frégate Island		Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. (1983) (p. 52) Vouchers cited: Jeffrey 1176, Procter 4159, Robertson 2673
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)

Additional information:
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.

Additional online information about Tephrosia noctiflora is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Tephrosia noctiflora as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Tephrosia noctiflora may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. 1988. Flora of the Solomon Islands. Research Bulletin No. 7. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honiara. 203 pp.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2011. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. 1983. Vegetation of Frégate Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 pp.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).