Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Stylosanthes biflora
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Pencil-flower from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Stylosanthes biflora
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Stylosanthes biflora
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Stylosanthes biflora
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-25-001:
Stylosanthes biflora FAMILY Fabaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Stylosanthes biflora
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Stylosanthes riparia
COMMON NAME:
Pencil-flower, Sidebeak Pencil-flower
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_stbi2_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_stri3_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0506m_09
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
Leaflet tips w a slender nipple or extension, unusual in a legume species, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm080607_005
June Pickens County SC
Prostrate to erect herb, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm080607_006
June Pickens County SC
Leaflets elliptic to oblanceolate or lanceolate, entire, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm160611_023
June Edgefield County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm250618_1133
June Greenville County SC
Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow s080607_a
June Pickens County SC
One to several 4-16" stems arise from a stout rootstock, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm190708_9826
July Greenville County SC
The large adnate stipules are distinctive, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
JK Marlow jkm140822_907
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
A yellow-orange, 5-petaled, pea-like flower, with a nearly round standard, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm160816_006
August Oconee County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_s_biflora_3
September
)
JK Marlow s080920_a
September Greenville County SC
Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
Pencil-flower and Viperina
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Stylosanthes biflora
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Stylosanthes biflora
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Stylosanthes biflora
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Stylosanthes biflora
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-25-001:
Stylosanthes biflora
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Stylosanthes biflora
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Stylosanthes riparia
1473
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Longleaf pine sandhills, dry to moist (but not wet) pine savannas and flatwoods, dry forests, woodlands, woodland borders, glades, barrens, rock outcrops, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
Orange-yellow/Whitish
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 monadelphous stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p193
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p184
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p266
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p058
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p230
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p168
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p036
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p127
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p205
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p140
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p178
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p080
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p065
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".