Trailing Fuzzy-bean
Strophostyles helvola
Found in Coastal dunes, beaches, dry sandy woodlands, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- June to September
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 32 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Strophostyles
- Apatelodes torrefactaSpotted Apatelodes
- Cecropterus bathyllusSouthern Cloudywing
- Telegonus cellusGolden Banded-Skipper , Golden-Banded Skipper
- Porphyrosela desmodiella
5BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Strophostyles
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Strophostyles
- Megachile integra
- Trachusa dorsalis
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Strophostyles
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
3AntsRecorded seed interactions
- Formica fusca
- Formica schaufussi
- Lasius niger
Beetles 1
- Coccinella 9-notata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Flies 9
- Drosophila varia
- Helicobia 4-setosa
- Metoposarcophaga pachyprocta
- Paradidyma singularis
- Rivellia 4-fasciata
- Sarcophaga assidua
- Sarcophaga hunteri
- Sarcophaga marginata
- Sepsis violacea
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 9
- Astatus unicolor
- Cerceris clypeata
- Cerceris kennicottii
- Chalybion caeruleum
- Leionotus vagus
- Oxybelus 4-notatus
- Philanthus punctatus
- Polistes variatus
- Zanysson aurinotus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other insects 1
- Lygus pratensis
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Adult butterflies / moths
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- White, pink or purple
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- October
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White, pink or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Strophostyles helvula; Trailing Fuzzy Bean
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications