Robinia hispida
{{Short description|Plant species in the pea family}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Robinia-hispida2.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = {{TNCStatus}}
| status_system = TNC
| genus = Robinia
| species = hispida
| authority = L.
| synonyms_ref = {{cite POWO |id=517689-1 |title=Robinia hispida L. |access-date=14 August 2024}}
| synonyms = {{Collapsible list | {{Species list
| Aeschynomene hispida | Roxb. ex Steud. publ.
| Pseudo-acacia hispida | (L.) Moench (1794)
| Robinia albicans | Ashe (1923)
| Robinia boyntonii | Ashe (1898)
| Robinia complexa | K.Koch (1869)
| Robinia elliottii | (Chapm.) Ashe (1903)
| Robinia fertilis | Ashe (1923)
| Robinia glabrescens | Hoffmanns. (1828)
| Robinia hirsuta | Lindem. (1880)
| Robinia hispida var. boyntonii | Ashe (1897)
| Robinia hispida var. elliottii | Chapm. (1860)
| Robinia hispida var. fertilis | (Ashe) R.T.Clausen (1940)
| Robinia hispida var. inermis | G.Kirchn. (1864)
| Robinia hispida var. kelseyi | (Cowell ex Hutch.) Isely (1982)
| Robinia hispida var. macrophylla | DC. (1825)
| Robinia hispida f. macrophylla | (DC.) Voss (1894)
| Robinia hispida var. nana | (Elliott) DC. (1825)
| Robinia hispida var. rosea | Pursh (1813)
| Robinia hispida f. rosea | (Pursh) Voss (1894)
| Robinia hispida var. typica | R.T.Clausen (1940)
| Robinia kelseyi | Cowell ex Hutch. (1908)
| Robinia leucantha | Rehder (1945)
| Robinia macrophylla | (DC.) Schrad. ex G.Don (1832)
| Robinia michauxii | Sarg. (1922)
| Robinia montana | W.Bartram ex Pursh (1813)
| Robinia nana | Elliott (1823)
| Robinia pallida | Ashe (1923)
| Robinia pauciflora | Ashe (1923)
| Robinia pedunculata | Ashe (1923)
| Robinia rosea | Loisel. (1812)
| Robinia speciosa | Ashe (1922)
| Robinia unakae | Ashe (1923)
}}
}}
}}
Robinia hispida, known as the bristly locust,{{PLANTS|id=ROHI|taxon=Robinia hispida|accessdate=22 October 2015}} rose-acacia, or moss locust, is a shrub in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States,{{GRIN | accessdate = 12 January 2018}} and it is present in other areas, including other regions of North America, as an introduced species. It is grown as an ornamental and can escape cultivation and grow in the wild.[http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?Genus=Robinia&Species=hispida Robinia hispida.] Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. University of Washington. 2013.
Description
This deciduous shrub grows to 3 meters tall, often with glandular, bristly (hispid) stems. The leaves are pinnate with up to 13 leaflets. The pink or purplish pealike flowers are borne in hanging racemes of up to 5. The fruit is a flat pod. The variety of this species, called ambatch which is found in Cuba, has notably low density wood, about {{cvt|40|kg/m³}}; about one-third the density of balsa wood (Ochroma lagopus).{{Cite book |last1=Allen |first1=O. N. |last2=Allen |first2=Ethel K. |date=1981 |title=The Leguminosae, A Source Book of Characteristics, Uses, and Nodulation |language=en |location=Madison, Wisconsin |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |page=22 |isbn=978-0-299-08400-4 |oclc=7175396}}
Ethnobotany
The Cherokee had several uses for the plant. They used the root medicinally for toothache. They fed an infusion of the plant to cows as a tonic. The wood was useful for making fences, bows, and blowgun darts, and for building houses.[http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Robinia+hispida Robinia hispida.] Native American Ethnobotany. University of Michigan, Dearborn.
Subtaxa
There are at least 5 varieties:{{cite book |last=Weakley|first=Alan|title=Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States|date=November 2012 |version=Working Draft|publisher=University of North Carolina Herbarium|pages=516–517|url=http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130223003758/http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm |archive-date=2013-02-23}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LNuSw-Zx5hIC|title=Woody Plants of the Southeastern United States: A Winter Guide|last=Lance|first=Ron|date=2004|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=9780820325248}}
- Robinia hispida var. fertilis - Arnot bristly locust (North Carolina, Tennessee)
- Robinia hispida var. hispida - Common bristly locust (Originally endemic to the Southern Appalachian Mountains but now escaped from cultivation throughout much of eastern North America)
- Robinia hispida var. kelseyi - Kelsey's locust (North Carolina, sometimes considered to have arisen as a horticultural variety, sometimes considered a distinct species)
- Robinia hispida var. nana - Dwarf bristly locust (Found in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain from North Carolina south to Alabama, typically in dry, sandy soils such as those in the Sandhills region; sometimes considered a distinct species as R. nana)
- Robinia hispida var. rosea - Boynton's locust (North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama)