Pink Wild Bean (Strophostyles umbellata (Muhl.) Britt. )

Family: Fabaceae

General: Trailing to climbing perennial to 10ft.
long; stem usually hairy.

Leaves: Alternate, compound,
3 somewhat leathery leaflets are oblong
to narrowly ovate, to 2 in. long, never lobed.

Flowers: Pink, pea-like, to about 0.5 in. across;
keel petal strongly incurved, enclosing the 10 stamens
and style within; borne in racemes with few
to several flowers on a long, naked stalk, often
held about 12 in. above the vine. June-September.

Fruits: Legumes, 3 in. long, with appressed hairs.

Where Found: Dry open woodlands or open fields.
mainly Coastal Plain species found from NY to FL
and TX, and north in the interior to Southern IN.
Throughout TN. Frequent. (1)

Photographic Location: Montgomery Bell State Park in Middle TN.

(1) Wildflowers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians