About Strophostyles umbellata (Muhl. ex Willd.) Britton
Strophostyles umbellata, commonly known as the pink fuzzybean or perennial wild bean, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. This species is native to fields and woods in the central and southeastern United States. Its blooming period occurs from June to September. Strophostyles umbellata can be best distinguished from other species in its genus by its thick, relatively straight keel petal that is held close to the banner petal. It also uniquely has a perennial, branched caudex at its base. It is most morphologically similar to Strophostyles helvola, and the two differ in that S. helvola has a much thinner keel that curves away further from the banner petal along its entire length. Leaf morphology of S. umbellata can be highly variable. It ranges from the highly lobed panduriform leaf shape typical of Strophostyles helvola to the thin, sericeous, lanceolate leaf shape typical of Strophostyles leiosperma. Individual S. umbellata plants tend to grow scattered apart from one another. This spacing, possibly combined with self-incompatibility, may contribute to the low pod set observed in the species. Like the seeds of S. helvola, the seeds of S. umbellata have a cellular, waxy coating that may help with buoyancy and water dispersal.
