Flemingia strobilifera
(wild hops)

Preferred Scientific Name

• Flemingia strobilifera (L.) W. T. Aiton

Preferred Common Name

• wild hops

Other Scientific Names

• Flemingia bracteata (Roxb.) Wight
• Flemingia fruticulosa Benth.
• Flemingia strobilifera var. bracteata (Roxb.) Baker
• Flemingia strobilifera var. fluminalis (Prain) Thuan
• Flemingia strobilifera var. fruticulosa Baker
• Flemingia strobilifera var. nudiflora Haines
• Hedysarum bracteatum Roxb.
• Hedysarum strobiliferum L.
• Moghania bracteata (Roxb.) H.L.Li
• Moghania fruticulosa (Benth.) Mukerjee
• Moghania strobilifera (L.) A. St.-Hil. ex Kuntze
• Moghania strobilifera (L.) J.St.-Hil.
• Moghania strobilifera (L.) Jacks.
• Moghania strobilifera (L.) Kuntze
• Zornia strobilifera (L.) Pers.

International Common Names

• English: luck plant; wild hops
• Spanish: camaron; verde seco
• French: Dona-Maria; sainfoin du Bengale; zeb sèk
• Chinese: qiu sui qian jin ba

Local Common Names

• Brunei Darussalam: pancar angin; Ringan
• Cuba: flemingia
• Dominican Republic: camaron; camarones; camarones secos; verde seco
• Guadeloupe: zeb sèk
• India: chepti; kanphuta; Kusrunt; kussunt; lukhy plant; pithawan; sudarsanpati
• Indonesia: apa-apa kebo; gatak; hahapaan
• Jamaica: wild hops
• Lesser Antilles: luck bush; luck plant; sainfoin du Bengale; wild hops; zeb care; zeb kawé; zeb sek
• Martinique: zeb sèk
• Mauritius: Napoleonia
• Palau: besungelaiei; pesungel a iei
• Papua New Guinea: arana; mineata; mineata
• Philippines: gangan; payang-payang; piragan
• Réunion: Dona-Maria
• Seychelles: Napoleon
• Thailand: khee dang; ngon kai; nhut phra

EPPO code

• FLEST (Flemingia strobilifera)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Fabales
•                         Family: Fabaceae
•                             Subfamily: Faboideae
•                                 Genus: Flemingia
•                                     Species: Flemingia strobilifera

Fabaceae is one of the largest families of flowering plants. This family includes about 745 genera and 19500 species which can be found throughout the world growing in a great variety of climates and environments (Stevens, 2012).

Flemingia comprises about 40-50 species, native to the tropical regions in South and Southeast Asia and Australia, with two species occurring naturally in Africa. The genus Moghania that is a synonym of Flemingia is very often written as “Maughania” (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2014). Flemingia strobilifera (L.) W.T.Aiton and F. macrophylla (Willd.) Merr. have been introduced as ornamental species and as cover, hedge and mulch crops, and both have become invasive.

However, as with other Flemingia species, whereas the species limits appear accepted, there is some disagreement regarding naming authorities, and clarification will be required in the future. The Plant List (2013) and in this datasheet, F. strobilifera (L.) W.T.Aiton is accepted, however, Missouri Botanical Gardens (2014) record it as F. strobilifera (L.) R. Br.

The floral bracts resemble the true hop plant which is used in the brewing of beer, and it is this that has led to the common name of wild hops (Campbell, 2012). The specific epiphet 'strobilifera' is from the Latin for 'cone-bearing.'

The following is from the Flora of China Editorial Committee (2014):

F. strobilifera is a shrub or subshrub; 0.3-3 m tall. Branchlets ribbed, densely gray to dull brown villous. Leaves simple; stipules linear-lanceolate, 0.8-1.8 cm, persistent or deciduous; petiole usually 0.5-1.5 cm, densely hairy; leaf blade ovate, nar­rowly ovate, ovate-elliptic, broadly elliptic, or oblong, 6-15 × 3-7 cm, thinly leathery, glabrous or almost glabrous except for veins, lateral veins 5-9 pairs, base rounded, slightly cordate, apex acuminate, obtuse, or acute. Inflorescence a thyrse, some­times branched; inflorescence axis 5-11 cm, densely dun vil­lous; cymules each enclosed by concave bract; bracts 1.2-3 × 2-4.4 cm, papery to almost leathery, both surfaces long hirsute, margin ciliate, apex truncate or rounded, slightly emarginate and with slender mucro. Flowers small; pedicel 1.5-3 mm. Calyx pubescent; lobes ovate, slightly longer than tube. Corolla longer than calyx; standard broadly orbicular; wings narrower than keels. Legume elliptic, 6-10 × 4-5 mm, sparsely pubescent, inflated. Seeds 2, usually dark brown, flattened, suborbicular about 3x4 mm.

There are no specific records that relate to dates of introduction for F. strobilifera,but it may have been introduced as an ornamental plant from the 1800s. The earliest known record of its location as a non-native is from the Pacific, from the early 1800s in New Caledonia (Blanfort et al., 2010), and in South America in 1902 in Sao Paulo, Brazil (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2014).

It is naturalizing and invasive in parts of the Caribbean (Kairo et al., 2003) and the Pacific (Meyer, 2000), and it is highly probable that reports of its invasiveness will increase and it may spread further.

Soil drainage

• free
• impeded

Soil reaction

• acid
• alkaline
• neutral

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

Special soil tolerances

• infertile
• shallow

Natural Dispersal

When mature and dry, the small pods turn brown and split, discharging their seeds over short distances (Roshetko, 1995). Water and wind probably assist seed dispersal.

Vector Transmission (Biotic)

There is no direct evidence that the fruit is bird dispersed and no other evidence of animal dispersal (PIER, 2014).

Accidental Introduction

It is improbable that it would be introduced accidentally. Agricultural machinery may spread seed.

Intentional Introduction

F. strobilifera has been introduced as an ornamental species and also as a soil improver, a component of hedges, and as a mulch and green manure crop.

F. strobilifera colonizes the open understory of coconut plantations, pasture, roadsides and clearings in secondary forests and wetlands (Meyer, 2000). In Jamaica, once established, it forms thickets and continues to spread, aggressively competing with native species for needed resources, mostly in disturbed areas (Campbell, 2012). The invasive nature and noted environmental impacts in the Pacific region has led to the species being declared a threat to biodiversity in two legal orders in 1988 and 2006, the latter including F. strobilifera amongst plants declared to be "species that threaten biodiversity", and subject to a ban on new imports, propagation and planting (Meyer, 2000).

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Tolerant of shade
• Fast growing
• Has high reproductive potential

• Modification of nutrient regime
• Monoculture formation
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - shading
• Competition - smothering
• Rapid growth

• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

Economic Benefits

F. strobilifera has been planted as a cover crop in rubber plantations in Sri Lanka, along with other Flemingia species (Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, 1962). Of a range of potential cover crops tested, F. strobilifera and F. macrophylla were two of only three species that competed successfully with the natural weed population. Their root systems apparently did not interfere with those of the crop, and F. strobilifera responded more vigorously to cutting, developed more adventitious roots and was more drought-resistant than F. macrophylla (Lems, 1965). F. strobilifera is also used as an ornamental species (Neal, 1965), and is used in floral arrangements because of its attractive inflated bracts (Campbell, 2012). Some florists spray the bracts in various colours to suit different floral arrangements. The floral bracts resemble the true hop plant which is used in the brewing of beer, and it is this that has led to the common name of wild hops (Campbell, 2012).

F. strobilifera is not reported to be used or valued as a forage or fodder, unlike F. macrophylla. The leaves are rather tough and coarse, and may also contain high levels of tannin that would reduce palatability. F. strobilifera is reported as a minor host of the lac insect (Kumar and Srivastava, 1993), in addition to the two species of Flemingia (F. chappar and F. macrophylla) more commonly used as minor lac hosts.

F. strobilifera has also been planted in experiments to control the invasive Mikania scandens in plantations of ‘jak’ (Artocarpus integrifolius). It produced dense undergrowth, spreading rapidly beyond areas where which it had been sown. Even though it prevented the growth of mikania, other climbers still manage to become established and climb up the jak trees (Ceylon Silvicultural Research Administration, 1945).

F. strobilifera plant extracts are reported to have numerous medical properties and applications, including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anticonvulsive, antimicrobial, anti-ulcerogenic and anti-helminthic properties (Gahlot et al., 2011; 2013; Kumar et al., 2011a,b,c). Several Flemingia species are important sources of medicinal natural products, particularly flavonoids and steroids, with recent developments in the ethnobotany, pharmacology and phytochemistry of the genus (Gahlot et al., 2011). F. strobilifera (also F. macrophylla and F. chappar) have been traditionally used in India in the treatment of epilepsy, insomnia, ulcer pain and swelling. In Malaysia, leaves are reported to be used to treat rheumatism, administered after childbirth, used for bathing the body (Burkill, 1993). In the Philippines, a decoction or infusion of leaves and flowers is prescribed in tuberculosis. In Java and Papua New Guinea, the leaves are employed both externally and internally as an anthelmintic for children (van der Maesen, 2001). However, despite the long tradition of the use of some species, applications in modern medicine have not been explored in detail. The potential of Flemingia species is detailed by (Gahlot et al., 2011), as a reference tool to practitioners in the fields of ethnopharmacology and natural products chemistry. Leaves are also used to stuff pillows, and the wood is burned for use in blackening the teeth (Burkill, 1993).