Catgut

Tephrosia virginiana, commonly known as catgut, devil's shoestring, or goat's rue, is an erect perennial herb in the legume family (Fabaceae) native to dry, sandy soils of eastern and central North America. It typically grows 30 to 70 centimeters tall from a stout, deep, woody taproot that gives rise to several tough, silky-pubescent stems, the inner bark of which is extremely fibrous, accounting for its common names. The pinnately compound leaves bear 15 to 29 oblong leaflets that are silky-hairy beneath. In early summer, dense terminal racemes display strikingly bicolored pea-like flowers with cream-yellow standard petals and pink-purple wings and keels. The fruit is a flattened, hairy legume pod 3 to 5 centimeters long containing several seeds. The plant grows in open pinelands, oak barrens, dry prairies, and sandy fields. Its roots contain rotenone and related rotenoid compounds, which are toxic to fish and many insects.