Twining Snout Bean - Rhynchosia mollissima (aka R. tomentosa var. mollissima)

There are a great many native legumes in Florida (and elsewhere) and 11 unique species in Florida.  Legumes are important nitrogen fixers in soil and a great many serve as host plants for butterflies - especially long-tailed skippers.  Twining snout bean (Rhynchosia tomentosa) is recognized as being two separate species - differing somewhat in whether they are tomentose or not.  Other taxonomists separate them as two distinct species. The photos above are var. mollissima. Both varieties (or species) share a bit of Florida in their natural ranges, but var. mollissima is most common to eastern north Florida and extends into central Florida to about the latitude of Lake and Hernando Counties.  R. tomentosa var. tomentosa is mostly limited to extreme north Florida across the Panhandle.  Their habitat preferences are the same - they occur mostly in well-drained sandy uplands; deciduous woodlands and sandhills. This species (or two species) occurs throughout much of the Southeastern Coastal Plain from extreme east Texas to the west and north to Virginia and Maryland.  

As its common name suggests, twining snout bean is a plant that twines throughout the understory though it is partly erect as the photos indicate.  It is a perennial that dies back to the ground in winter and reemerges in early spring. By late spring to early summer, it reaches its mature height (length) of about 3 feet.  Like most legumes, it has compound leaves.  These consist of 3 ovate leaflets  1-2 inches long and about 1/3 as wide.  They are opposite each other on the stem. The leaves are subtended by small stipules and a pair of amber-colored glands are present at their junction with the stem.

Flowering occurs from late May to August on a single flower stalk. A great many bright yellow flowers are clustered along the stalk and are typical legume flowers with a noticeable keel and fused lower lip. Like many legumes, they are primarily pollinated by bees.

Although snout beans have value in the landscape, I am not aware of any in this genus currently propagated commercially by members of FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries.  I have not done so either and have no personal experience with them in a home landscape. They should be easily propagated from ripe seed collected from the mature beans in late summer to fall.

These photos were taken by my friend and incredible field ecologist, Alex de la Paz, and used by permission.