Neptunia pubescens Bentham. Tropical Neptunia. Phen: (Apr-) May-Sep (-Nov). Hab: Pine savannas, longleaf pine sandhills, Florida scrub, prairies, coastal prairies, roadsides. Dist: S. GA, AL, and FL west to s. TX, and south to Argentina.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Taxonomy Comments: Turner (1951) treated N. pubescens in our area with two varieties differing from the typic (the type is from Lima, Peru); this distinction has not been followed by later authors. A modern reassessment is needed. Var. floridana has "leaflets glabrous or sparsely ciliate, the cilia scarcely 0.2 mm long, the under-surface completely glabrous or ciliate along the margin only; fruiting peduncles 6-11 cm long; calyx glabrous or with but 4-5 hairs along the lobes; petals glabrous" and ranges from s. FL along the Gulf Coast to s. TX, and also in the West Indies and south into South America. Var. lindheimeri has "leaflets conspicuously ciliate, most of the cilia 0.2-0.7 mm long, the undersurface near apex conspicuously so; stipules covered with a scattered short pubescence; fruiting peduncles 2.5-7 cm long; calyx lobes pubescent (10-20 cilia on each lobe); petals ciliate" and is distributed in se. and s. TX.

Synonymy: = Fl3, FNA11.1, K3, K4, Mex, WH3; = Neptunia pubescens Benth. var. pubescens – K1, SE3, Tx, Isely (1973), Isely (1998), Windler (1966); > Neptunia floridana Small – S, S13; > Neptunia lindheimeri B.L.Rob. – S13; > Neptunia pubescens Benth. – S13; > Neptunia pubescens Benth. var. floridana (Small) B.L.Turner – Turner (1951); > Neptunia pubescens Benth. var. lindheimeri (B.L.Rob.) B.L.Turner – Turner (1951)

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC
• Great Plains: FAC

Heliophily: 9