Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including KY
Genus host records with ranges including KY · Galactia
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
- Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
- Parectopa robiniellaLocust Digitate Leafminer
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Urbanus proteusLong-Tailed Skipper, Bean Leaf Roller
30BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Galactia
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 · Galactia
- Megachile brimleyi
- Megachile integra
5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Galactia
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
- Francolinus francolinusBlack Francolin
- Peucaea aestivalisBachman's Sparrow
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 7a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- Pink or white
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Summer” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Flower color · “Pink or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 7a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Eastern Milk Pea
Conservation status
| Kentucky rank | S1? |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| KY status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
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Sources
- tnky_atlas
- usda
- nc_flora
- 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