Spiked Hoary-pea
Tephrosia spicata
Found in longleaf pine sandhills, dry oak and oak-pine woodlands and savannas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- June to August
- Fruiting season
- July to October
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 32 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 125 animals.
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- White-eyed VireoVireo griseus
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Blue-winged WarblerVermivora pinus
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Chestnut-sided WarblerDendroica pensylvanica
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Loggerhead ShrikeLanius ludovicianus
- Northern Rough-winged SwallowStelgidopteryx serripennis
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
Who uses this plant?
6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Tephrosia
- Cecropterus bathyllusSouthern Cloudywing
- Cecropterus confusisConfusing Cloudywing, Confused Cloudy Wing
- Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
- Digrammia eremiataThree-Lined Angle
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Ulophora groteii
30BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Tephrosia
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
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- White, red, pink or yellow
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- October
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White, red, pink or yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Spiked Hoary Pea
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S3S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4G5 [G5] |
| VA 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
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition
- 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