Galactia regularis
{{Short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Eastern Milkpea (Galactia regularis) (6105949509).jpg
| status = G5
| status_system = TNC
| genus = Galactia
| species = regularis
| authority = (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenburg
| synonyms =
- Dolichos regularis L.
- Clitoria lactescens L.
- Galactia angustifolia var. retusa C.Wright ex Griseb.
}}
Galactia regularis, the downy milk pea or eastern milkpea, is a perennial species of herb or vine in the bean family. It is native to the entire southeastern United States, from Texas east to Florida, north to New Jersey and west through Kansas.{{Cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.158621/Galactia_regularis |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=explorer.natureserve.org}}{{Cite web |title=USDA Plants Database |url=https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/GARE2 |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=plants.usda.gov}} It's historical range included New York state, but is presumed extirpated by NatureServe. Some record exists of a range extending to Cuba,{{Cite web |title=Galactia regularis (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:106681-2 |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}} but this is not supported by current observations.{{Cite web |title=Galactia regularis (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb. |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/2984161 |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=www.gbif.org |language=en}}
Description
It is a erect or climbing bine with hirsute to villous stems with deflexed hairs which is most often found in dry forests widespread across the eastern US. It's leaves are palmately compound, composed of three elliptic leaflets approximately 5 to 25 mm wide, are widest at the midpoint and thick in texture and do not have glaucus undersides. In its native range it can easily be confused with related genera such as Desmodium or Strophostyles. It's chasmogamous flowers are arranged in sets of 1 to 16 per peduncle (10 to 280 mm in length), and can occur in white, pink, red, or purple. Across its range it blooms from July through September and fruits from August to October.Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2023. Flora of the southeastern United States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, U.S.A..
Ecology
The plant is eaten by bobwhite quail and is a host of Automeris io io. Its flowers are visited by Megachile brimleyi, white-footed leaf-cutted bee, golden sweat bee and common little leaf-cutter bee. As a legume it retains a symbiotic relationship with the nitrogen-fixing bacteria Rhizobia.{{Cite web |title=Downy Milk-Pea - Encyclopedia of Life |url=https://eol.org/pages/416929 |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=eol.org}} Its status as a relatively uncommon or potentially threatened species within some states, despite overall security, may in part be a result of the proliferation of introduced species such as Galactia officinalis. G. regularis has been described as "gap-dependent" where the plant is adapted to benefit from fires in forests or shrublands, taking advantage of the new gaps in canopy cover.{{Cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Craig C. |last2=Menges |first2=Eric S. |date=1999 |title=Postfire Gap-Phase Regeneration in Scrubby Flatwoods on the Lake Wales Ridge |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24320959 |journal=Florida Scientist |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |jstor=24320959 |issn=0098-4590}}