Orbexilum macrophyllum (Rowlee ex Small) Rydb. (1919:5)
Largeleaf leather-root, Bigleaf scurfpea
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Psoralea macrophylla Rowlee in J.K.Small, Fl. S.E. U.S.: 623 (1903)
Conservation Status
Extinct (WCMC, 1992:220; Humphreys et al., 2019; Knapp et al., 2021; POWO, 2024; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2025; NatureServe, 2026)
Last record (disputed): 18 June 1897 (Ripley, 1975:43 [as 1897]; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2025 [as 1897]); 8 June 1899 (Knapp et al., 2021 [as 1899]; NatureServe, 2026 [as 1899])
"This species was discovered on 18 June 1897 and subsequently collected on 8 June 1899 by E.C. Townsend, somewhere on the double peak of Tryon Mountain and White Oak Mountain, Polk County, North Carolina"
(Weakley & SFT, 2026)
Distribution & Habitat
Tryon Mountains, Polk County, North Carolina, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2023). Uitgestorven. Op plantenjacht rond de wereld: 1-511. Sterck & De Vreese.
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2025). Plant extinction in the Anthropocene. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 207(3): 183-196. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae045 [Appendix S1]
CPC. (1990). Centre for plant conservation data for North American plants database. CPC, Centre for plant conservation.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). (2023). Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 11. Magnoliophyta: Fabaceae, parts 1+2. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxvii + 1108 pp.
Grimes, J. W. (1988). Systematics of New World Psoraleae (Leguminosae-Faboideae). Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Texas at Austin.
Grimes, J. W. (1990). A revision of the New World species of Psoraleeae (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae). Memoirs N.Y. Bot. Gard. 61: 1-114.
Humphreys, Aelys M., Govaerts, Rafaël, Ficinski, Sarah Z., Lughadha, Eimear Nic and Vorontsova, Maria S. (2019). Global dataset shows geography and life form predict modern plant extinction and rediscovery. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 1043-1047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0906-2 [Supplementary Dataset 1]
Isely, D. (1990). Leguminosae (Fabaceae), volume 3, part 2, Vascular flora of the southeastern United States. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC.
Isely, D. (1998). Native and Naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the United States: 1-1007. Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Kartesz, J. T. (1994). A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Knapp, Wesley M., Frances, Anne, Noss, Reed, Naczi, Robert F. C., Weakley, Alan, Gann, George D., Baldwin, Bruce G., Miller, James, McIntyre, Patrick, Mishler, Brent D., Moore, Gerry, Olmstead, Richard G., Strong, Anna, Kennedy, Kathryn, Heidel, Bonnie and Gluesenkamp, Daniel. (2021). Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada. Conservation Biology 35(1): 360-368. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13621 [Supporting Information (Appendix S1)]
NatureServe. (2026). Orbexilum macrophyllum: Bigleaf Scurfpea. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available at: https://explorer.natureserve.org/ [Accessed on 20 August 2026]
POWO. (2018). Plants of the World online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. http://e-monocot.org/.
POWO. (2024). Plants of the World Online (online resource). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 20 August 2024]
Radford, A. E., Ahles, H. E. and Bell, C. R. (1968). Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, N.C. 1183 pp.
Ripley, S. Dillon. (1975). Report on endangered and threatened species of the United States. House Document 94-51: 1-200 [43].
Turner, B. L. (2008). Revision of the genus Orbexilum (Fabaceaea: Psoraleeae). Lundellia 11: 1-7.
WCMC (World Conservation Monitoring Centre). (1992). Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's living resources. London: Chapman & Hall. xx + 594 pp. [listed twice on p. 220, under Orbexilum and Psoralea]
WCMC (World Conservation Monitoring Centre). (1996). Threatened plant database of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. W.C.M.C., Cambridge, U.K.
Weakley, A. S. (1996). Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia: working draft of 23 May 1996. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Southern Conservation Science Dept., Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Unpaginated.
Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Working Draft: 21 May 2015.
Weakley, A. S. and SFT (Southeastern Flora Team). (2026). Flora of the southeastern United States Web App. University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, U.S.A. https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/main.php?pg=show-taxon-detail.php&lsid=urn:lsid:ncbg.unc.edu:taxon:{D3322D8F-3D1F-465C-BDD7-8B8539710BDD}&tempaccesskey=380090596. Accessed Aug 21, 2026.