Centrosema macrocarpum Benth.

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Centrosema

Characteristics

Robust vine, stems terete, becoming somewhat woody, pilose with tan colored hairs, glabrescent. Leaves pinnate trifoliolate, the leaflets narrowly ovate, api-cally acute or slightly acuminate, mostly 8-13 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, basally rounded, papyraceous to subcoriaceous, glabrate on both sides or pubescent beneath; petiolules 3-5 mm long, stout; rachis and petioles drying grooved, pu-bescent; stipels linear subulate, about as long as the petiolules; stipules acute, nervate, 4-5 mm long. Inflorescences few flowered pseudoracemes, peduncles 2-6 cm long, the rachis thickened with conspicuous nodes, 2-3 cm long; bracts stipule-like; bracteoles ovate subspathaceous, ca. 10 mm long, ciliolate, glabrate, finely nervate, enclosing the calyx cup but not the longest tooth; pedicels 3-7 mm long, puberulent. Flowers pink and red within, green and pink outside; calyx cupular, the cup 3-4 mm long, the teeth dorsally pubescent, the longest 7-10 mm long, the others 4-5 mm long, the lower pair united about halfway up, the sinus acute; standard orbicular, ca. 3 mm long, puberulent dorsally. Fruit linear, mostly 15-20 cm long, 7-8 mm wide, compressed, smooth, the margins conspicuously thickened, ca. 2 mm wide, the beak 10-13 mm long, acicular, straight, glabrous; seeds dark brown, rectangular, 5-6 mm long, the hilum occupying one side.
More
A trailing herb. It has a taproot and slender stems. The young stems have greyish hairs. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets are oval. They are rounded at the base and taper at the tip. The central leaflet is largest and 8-13 cm long by 3-8 cm wide. The flowers are in groups in the axils of leaves. There can be 30 flowers in pairs. The petals are cream with a purple centre. The pod is 30 cm long and 1 cm wide. There are 25 seeds. They are 5 mm long by 3 mm wide. They are yellowish-brown.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support climber
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) -
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) 1.5
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer rhizobia
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. It can grow in low fertility on well drained soils. It can tolerate acid conditions and soils with high aluminium.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses animal food breeding environmental use experimental purposes fodder gene source
Edible leaves seeds
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) 22 - 28
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Centrosema macrocarpum leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Centrosema macrocarpum leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Centrosema macrocarpum leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Distribution

Centrosema macrocarpum world distribution map, present in American Samoa, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Conservation status

Centrosema macrocarpum threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:51875-2
WFO ID wfo-0000165563
COL ID SBHC
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Centrosema seymourianum Centrosema lisboae Bradburya macrocarpa Centrosema magnificum Centrosema macrocarpum