Goat’s Rue - Tephrosia virginiana

Features:  "There's rue for you, and here's some for me. We may call it 'herb of grace' o' Sundays. Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference. There's rue for you, and here's some for me.” — Ophelia in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

Rue is a symbol of bitterness and sorrow but also repentance.
It is also known as catgut, rabbit pea, Virginia tephrosia, hoary pea, and devil's shoestring.

This plant is low and bushy and its leaves are alternate and compound, usually with 8 to 15 pairs of narrow, oblong leaflets. Soft white hairs on the leaves and the stem give them a silvery, or hoary, appearance.  The flowers look similar to other flowers in the pea family and are bi-colored, with a pale yellow or cream upper petal (the standard), and pink petals on the bottom (the keel and wings). It adds nitrogen to the soil.

It attracts leaf-cutting bees and several species of moth and skipper.

It can be found in sand savannas, open woods and glades, prairies and rocky soils.

The roots of the plant contain rotenone, and should not be eaten by people or livestock. Crushed parts were previously used as a fish poison.

Light: Sun, part shade

Soil: Dry, sandy, acidic soils

Height: up to 2 feet

Blooms: June-July

See more information and photos at Illinois Wildflowers and USDA Plants

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