Dolichos decumbens Thunb.

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Dolichos

Characteristics

Decumbent shrublet. Stems sprawling, 0.3-0.6 m high, not striate-ribbed. Leaflets rhombic-ovate, 10-26 x 10-25 mm, mucrons absent, sparsely pubescent beneath, glabrescent above; petiole (5-)10-18(-30) mm long; stipules ovate, 2-3 x 1-2 mm. Flowers in axillary pseudo-umbels, peduncles longer than petioles, not warty, (18-)25-65 mm long, with (2)4 to 10 flowers; flowers 6-7 mm long; bracts ovate, 1.0-1.5 x ±1 mm; bracteoles linear-lanceolate, ±1 x ±0.5 mm. Calyx sparsely hairy, upper lip slightly longer than lower lip, upper lip 2.0-3.5 mm long, lower lip 2-3 mm long; carinal lobe length equal to lateral ones. Corolla violet, pink or blue with dark purple keel tip; standard suborbicular, 5-7 x 5-7 mm, claw 1.5-2.0 mm long; wings obovate, 4-5 x ±2 mm, claw 3-4 mm long; keel more or less equal to wings, 4-5 x 2-3 mm, claw 3-4 mm long. Ovary narrowly oblong, 4-5 mm long, 1 or 2-ovuled. Fruit linear, 25-30 x 4-5 mm, densely silky, without warts along the margins, 1 to 2-seeded. Seeds brown or brown mottled black.
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Distinguished from D. hastaeformis by slender, terete style and foliage. Perennial, climbing or trailing shrublet, 0.2-0.6(-2.0) m high, with prostrate, scabro-hispidulous stems; root very thick, woody and deeply descending. Leaflets rhombic-ovate or trowel-shaped, obtuse or acute, thickish, immersedly-veiny with scabrous margins. Inflorescences of pedunculate corymbs; peduncles longer than leaves, 4-8(-10)-flowered. Flowers violet, pink or blue. Calyx: lobes short, broad, rounded, ciliolate. Style terete, slender, pubescent throughout. Flowering time July-Aug. Pod tapering much at base, straight, 1-or 2-seeded.
Straggling shrublet, 30-60 cm. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, leaflets rhombic-ovate. Flowers in pedunculate corymbs, violet, pink or blue, style terete.
Life form perennial
Growth form
Growth support climber
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.3 - 0.6
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer rhizobia
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 2-4
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) 14 - 30
Germination temperacture (C°) 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment soaking
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Dolichos decumbens world distribution map, present in South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:492985-1
WFO ID wfo-0000179552
COL ID 376YT
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Dolichos decumbens