BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Thermopsis mollis | Soft Bush Pea 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Soft bush pea is a native, rhizomatous, perennial herb with moderately
branched, erect stems that grow 1.0 to 4.9 feet (0.3-1.5 m) tall.  The
racemes are terminal.  The fruit is a legume about 1.6 to 2.8 inches
(4-7 cm) long [7,10,16,22].  Thermopsis spp. generally have deep, woody,
creeping rhizomes [1].  In Saskatchewan, prairie thermopsis (T.
rhombifolia) roots were 0.1 to 0.2 inch (0.3-0.5 cm) in diameter and 2.6
to 5.6 feet (0.8-1.7 m) deep [5].  Thermopsis spp. are drought resistant
[1].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Soft bush pea regenerates vegetatively and by seed.  Thermopsis spp.
spread by underground rhizomes and form broad patches [1,5].  In
California, the seeds of Santa Ynez false lupine (T. macrophylla var.
agina) required scarification for laboratory germination [3].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Soft bush pea occurs on moist and dry sites in upland areas of the
Piedmont and Appalachian Mountains [10].  It occurs on dry slopes,
ridges, and roadsides [7,10,14,16,21].  Thermopsis mollis var.
fraxinifolia occurs up to 5,000 feet (1,500 m) elevation [10].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Soft bush pea is probably intermediate in shade tolerance.  It colonizes
roadsides but also occurs on shady slopes [10].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
The typical variety flowers April through May and fruits ripen June
through August.  Thermopsis mollis var. fraxinifolia flowers May through
July and fruits July through August [10,16].

Related categories for Species: Thermopsis mollis | Soft Bush Pea