Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_stylosanthes_guianensis
Brazilian Lucerne
Stylosanthes guianensis
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About Brazilian Lucerne
A much-branched perennial subshrub with woody lower stems and three narrow lanceolate-to-oblong leaflets per leaf. Clasping stipular sheaths have pointed teeth. Bristly axillary and terminal flower heads carry small pale-yellow pea flowers with dark-red arched lines on the standard. Tiny reticulate one-jointed pods have short inward-curved beaks. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of occupied cover, reproductive plants and new recruits. These measurements can test persistence and spread. The reviewed accounts do not quantify an island-wide effect on Kauaʻi native vegetation.
Kauaʻi evidence
Generated media is not occurrence evidence. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Stylosanthes guianensis
- Common names
- Brazilian lucerne · stylo · tropical lucerne
- Other names
- Stylosanthes guianensis · Brazilian lucerne · stylo · tropical lucerne
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-07
- Evidence limits
- Island-level public occurrence only. Use the diagnostic narrow-leaflet species concept in the cited Kew Bulletin treatment, distinct from re-established Stylosanthes gracilis. Do not combine all reported seed-color variants.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or subshrub; subshrub or shrub
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Occupied area and vegetation cover; Mature plants and new recruits; Reproductive plants and fruiting frequency. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
- Data gaps
- Current island extent and population trend · Measured local ecological effects
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- A much-branched perennial subshrub with woody lower stems and three narrow lanceolate-to-oblong leaflets per leaf. Clasping stipular sheaths have pointed teeth. Bristly axillary and terminal flower heads carry small pale-yellow pea flowers with dark-red arched lines on the standard. Tiny reticulate one-jointed pods have short inward-curved beaks. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of occupied cover, reproductive plants and new recruits. These measurements can test persistence and spread. The reviewed accounts do not quantify an island-wide effect on Kauaʻi native vegetation.