Local names:
Tephrosia villosa is an 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. Stipules tomentose, caducous and lanceolate. 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. Style glabrous, up to 3-5 mm long, bent sharply upward at base, twisted, penicillate. Pod strongly curved, up to 4 cm x 6 mm, densely silvery or brown-tomentose, hairs to 2 mm long, 4-10-seeded. Seed 12-16, rectangular, black, smooth, with short hard excrescences, up to 4.5 mm x 2.5-2.75 mm. The specific name ‘villosa’ means covered in white soft hair in Greek.
Ecology
T. villosa occurs in open fields, floodplains, often on sandy soils. It is tolerant of a long dry season and of heavy rain.
Native range
India, Malaysia
Exotic range
China, Indonesia, Madagascar, Pakistan
Tree management
T. villosa occurs in open fields, floodplains, often on sandy soils. It is tolerant of a long dry season and of heavy rain.
Poison: Toxic to livestock and also used as a fish poison.
Erosion control: In Africa, it is appreciated for its dense foliage hence annual cover crop.
Medicine: Leaf juice is used to treat dropsy and diabetes in India.
Soil improver: Used as green manure and annual cover crop in Africa, tested in Indonesia.