Eriosema cordatum E.Mey.

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Eriosema

Characteristics

Perennial herb 5-60 cm tall with 1-20 stems from short stylopodium of underground rootstock. Woody rootstock vertical, daucate, up to 50 cm deep. Stems prostrate, decumbent to semi-erect; terete or trigonous; variously ribbed; vesture hispid, hirsute, velutinous or pilose; hairs red, white or tawny; if glandular then orange, red or yellow gland-ed. Leaves unifoliolate, or trifoliolate with basal leaves unifoliolate; stipules (4.0)5.0-15(23) mm long, 3-8(12) mm wide; narrow ovate (2:1) to lanceolate (3:1), often falcate; semi-connate, either splitting or tightly clasping stem; glabrescent or hairy. Petiole (2)4-7(20) mm long. Leaflets 6-10 (14) cm long, (2.5)3.0-5.0(9.2) cm wide, laterals smaller; base cordate or obtuse; apex obtuse, rounded or acute; terminal leaflet symmetrical, ovate (1.5:1) to very wide ovate (1:1 or less), elliptic (2:1) to suborbiculate (1, 2:1), laterals asymmetrical, oblique, oblong, (2:1) to narrow oblong (3:1), to ovate (1.5:1) to narrow ovate (2:1); vesture strigose, sericeous, hirsute, pilose or velutinous, erect or appressed. Young leaflets either densely glandular or eglandular, with red foxy or white hairs. Petiolules 2-4 mm long. Rachis (9)10-15(23) mm long, rarely with two persistent acrorachial stipels. Racemes 3-27 flowered; peduncle 5-12(21) cm long; rachis 2-5 cm long; flowers 8-10 (13) mm long, 3-5 mm wide; reflexed vertical or with apex recurved until touching calyx; red and yellow, or red, yellow and orange; bracts lanceolate, persistent or deciduous. Calyx (3.0)4.0-6.0(7.8) mm long, half length of flower, teeth equal or unequal, longer than tube; lanceolate; stiffly shaggy or pilose; glabrous or finely hairy inside; glandular; tube (1.5)2.0-4.5(5.0) mm long; vexillar lobes (3.8)4.0-6.0(7.8) mm long; lateral lobes (3.0)4.0-5.5 6.5) mm long; keel lobe (3.8)4.0-6.0(7.5) mm long often thinner or incrassated. Standard (8.0)10.0-11.0(12.3) mm long; 4.4-7.0(9.0) mm wide; oblanceolate (3.1) to wide obovate (1.2:1), narrowed towards auricles; apex obtuse, retuse or emarginate; usually densely white pubescent and glandular on back, but occasionally glabrescent; claw 2-3 mm long; auricles inflexed, prominent; appendages bifurcate, between or just above auricles, either low ridges or large upcurled flaps, (3.2)3.8-4.0(4.8) mm from base of claw. Wings (7.8)9.0-11.5 mm long, 2.1-3.5(4.0) mm wide at maximum; longer than keel blades; claw 1.2-2.0 mm long; auricles 1.2-2.0 mm high. Keel blades (6.2)6.8-8.0(8.5) mm long, 3.0-4.6 wide at maximum; yellow, white or orange glanded; claw 1.2-2.8 mm long; auricles 1.2-2.8 mm high. Staminal sheath 6.0-7.2 mm long, 2.5-4.0 mm wide at maximum, vexillar stamen 5.0-7.2 mm long. Gynoecium (5.0)6.5-7.0(7.5) mm long, ovary 2.5-4.0 mm long; with stalk 0.3-1.0 mm long, hairs extending to half length of pistil; style incrassated at or above point of flexure, curvature 2-3 mm high; stigma level with anthers, capitate. Discoid floral nectary smooth slightly rippled or erose irregular. Fruits (11)15-16(17) mm long, 9-11 mm wide, wide oblong (1.5:1), strongly compressed; beak straight, downward or upward pointing; with scattered golden brown hairs mostly patent but appressed on margins and often glabrate on sides, apex oblique. Seeds 3.0-5.2 mm long, 1.7-2.4 mm wide, chestnut brown or khaki, with or without speckles, hilum white or brown. Flowering occurs throughout the summer months.
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The decumbent stem, petioles, peduncles and calyx roughly pilose with spreading, red hairs; leaves subsessile, either solitary, roundish-cordate, obtuse, or pinnato-tri-foliolate, the leaflets elliptic-ovate, all membranous, rufo-pilose on both sides, somewhat bullate, penninerved and veiny beneath; stipules free, broad, ovate-acuminate; peduncles shorter or longer than the leaves, densely spicato-racemose above the middle, the flowers reflexed-imbricate. Less densely hairy; leaves all pinnato-trifoliolate, leaflets membranaceous, elliptic-oblong, acute; peduncles much longer than the leaves, more laxly racemose. Hoot woody. Stems 6-12 inches long or more, subsimple. Leaves either simple or pinnately trifoliolate. The simple leaves are nearly or quite sessile, 4-3 inches long, about equally wide, often nearly orbicular; the unijugate have a common petiole inch long, and the leaflets are smaller and more ovate and subacute. Peduncles 2-6 inches long; the raceme 1-2 inches. Calyx very hairy, the tube 1 line, segments 2 lines long, lanceolate-subulate, the uppermost free. Vexillum 4 lines long, pubescent. Legume orbicular, very oblique, compressed, densely rufo-hirsute. Remarkable for its rough clothing of foxy, rigid, but glossy hairs. Simple and trifoliolate leaves occur sometimes on the same stem.
Perennial, decumbent herb, 0.05-0.60 m high; 1-20 stems from vertical, daucate, woody rootstock; vestiture variable with reddish or white hairs. Leaves unifoliolate and round-cordate (along coastal areas) or trifoliolate and ± elliptic-ovate with basal leaves unifoliolate. Leaflet size and shape very variable, 6-10(-14) mm long, subsessile, membranous, short spreading hairs on both sides. Flowers red and yellow, strongly reflexed, 8-10 mm long. Calyx covered in few, short, stiff hairs; teeth longer than tube. Petals: wings greatly exceed keel; keel white-, yellow-or orange-glandular. Flowering time summer. Pod with short, spreading hairs.
Leaves 1–3-foliolate, the lower ones often predominently 1-foliolate but sometimes all 3-foliolate; leaflets 4.3–13.3 × 1.7–9 cm, the terminal one elliptic to round ovate or lanceolate, the laterals more obliquely oblong-elliptic, rounded to acute or subacute and shortly mucronate at the apex, rounded to slightly or distinctly cordate at the base, sparsely pilose above and more densely so beneath, discolorous or not; petiole 2–4(7 even 20) mm long; rhachis 1–1.6(2.3) mm long; stipules (4)17(23) × (3)5–12 mm, lanceolate, tapering acute, venose, densely hairy, at first connate at the base but often splitting.
A herb. It has a rootstock and one stem arises from this. It can grow 40 cm high. There are 2 leaves. These have 1-3 leaflets. These are large and broad. There is a leaflet at the end. The end leaflet is 10 cm long by 7 cm wide. The flowers are at the end of the stem. There are many flowers on a long stalk. They are yellow. The fruit is a flat pod which is 1.5 cm across.
Corolla yellow and brown or red; standard (8)9(12.3) × 7(9) mm excluding the 2–3 mm long claw, obovate; wings 7(11.5) × 3(4) mm excluding the 1–2 mm long claw, oblanceolate-obovate; keel petals 7(8.5) × 2.8(4.5) mm excluding the 1(2.8) mm long claw, oblong-rhombic, very densely gland-dotted at tip.
Perennial herb, up to 0.6 m high. Stems procumbent, densely pubescent with spreading hairs. Leaves (1-)3-foliolate; leaflets large, up to twice as long as broad; stipules connate. Flowers: corolla yellow and red or brown; Sep.-Jan. Pods ± 20 mm long, densely hairy.
Inflorescences 2–5.5(10) cm long; peduncle 3–20.5 cm long, hairy as on stems, occasionally with 1–2 stipuliform bracts 8 × 2 mm; floral bracts 9 × 2.5 mm, lanceolate, soon falling; pedicels 1 mm long.
Flowers deflexed; calyx pilose, the tube 3.5–5 mm long and lobes 3(7.5) mm long, triangular to triangular-lanceolate.
Pods blackish, 1.6–1.7 × (0.9)1.1–1.3 cm, oblong-elliptic; seeds black, (3)6 × (2.4)3.5 mm, oblong with pale hilum.
Prostrate, ascending or rarely erect herbs, (5)12–45(60) cm long, from a woody rootstock 15–23 × 1–1.5(?10) cm.
Stems densely hairy with ± spreading bristly white or ± ferruginous hairs c. 3 mm long.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.23 - 0.6
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer rhizobia
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Open woodland with Peltophorum africanum, Pterocarpus rotundifolius, Acacia spp., etc.; grassland; tableland; often on black soil; sometimes abundant; at elevations from 250-1,750 metres.
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It is rare in Swaziland. It can grow in arid places. It grows in the Kalahari.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 7-8
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The tubers are eaten raw.
Uses food medicinal social use
Edible roots tubers
Therapeutic use Stimulant (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings. Seeds needs soaking.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment soaking
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Eriosema cordatum unspecified picture
Eriosema cordatum unspecified picture

Distribution

Eriosema cordatum world distribution map, present in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:494007-1
WFO ID wfo-0000195405
COL ID 3B64V
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Eriosema cordatum Rhynchosia cordata Eriosema guienzii