Eriosema squarrosum (Thunb.) Walp.

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Eriosema

Characteristics

Perennial herb up to 300 mm tall. Stems ascending, strongly branched from the base, closely clothed with deflexed hairs. Leaves trifoliolate, 25-55 x 15-20 mm, elliptic, becoming narrower and longer, grading into lanceolate near the ends of branches, lower leaves often obovate; apex acute, sometimes obtuse, base cuneate, dark green above, whitish beneath, upper surface glabrous to strigillose, lower surface finely and shortly pubescent, glandular; lateral leaflets smaller, asymmetrical. Stipules 7-10 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, free, appressed, persistent, softly pubescent and sparsely covered in glands. Petioles 2-3 mm long. Racemes axillary, up to 100 mm long, exceeding the leaves; peduncles 26-55 mm long, densely racemose beyond the middle with 10-20 reflexed imbricating flowers. Flowers 7-9 mm long, pinkish orange; bracts caducous, about half the length of the flower. Calyx 5-6 mm long, lobes equal; teeth lanceolate, equal to or slightly longer than the tube, softly white pubescent, glandular. Standard 8-9 mm long, narrowly obovate, clawed, auriculate; gland-covered and pubescent on back; appendages present, well developed, situated above the auricles and tapering towards them, fused. Wing petals 9 x 2 mm, oblong, auriculate, longer than the keel. Keel petals 7 mm long, 3 mm wide at maximum, encrusted with yellow glands, distinctly pocketed. Staminal sheath 10 mm long; free stamen geniculate. Pistil 8 mm long; ovary 4 mm long, subsessile, densely hairy almost up to point of flexure; height of curvature 3 mm; stigma capitate. Nectary present, margin undulate. Fruit 11-15 x 8-10 mm, glandular, covered in fine hairs overlain by long stiff yellow hairs. Seeds 5 x 3 mm, black or dark brown.
More
Erect or diffuse, the stem, petioles, and peduncles fulvo-sericeous with short, sort, hairs; leaflets 3, ovate, obovate, oblong or lanceolate-oblong, obtuse or acute, green above, silky-white and penninerved beneath; stipules lanceolate, free; peduncles mostly longer than the leaves, densely racemose beyond the middle with many reflexed, imbricating flowers; calyx pilose, its segments longer than the tube. Somewhat woody at base; stems erect or ascending, branched from the root, 6-14 inches long, clothed with short, reversed, rusty-coloured or dirty-white soft hairs. Stipules membranous, striate, 4-6 lines long. Petioles rarely 1/2 inch long. Leaflets 1-1 1/2 inch long, 3/4-1 inch wide, in 5, much larger, the lower often obovate, the rest mostly oblong or elliptical; those near the ends of the branches narrower and longer in proportion and passing into lanceolate. Peduncles 2-6 inches long, the raceme about uncial, very dense; the flowers strongly reflexed, 4-5 lines long. Calyx cano-villose, the segments lanceolate, half as long as the pubescent vexillum. Legume 6 lines long, 4-5 lines wide, shaggy with long red hairs.
Perennial ascending herb, up to 0.3 m high; somewhat woody at base, branched from root; sparsely covered with short, rusty-coloured or dirty white soft hairs. Leaflets elliptic to lanceolate-oblong, obtuse or acute; upper surface dark green; lower surface dull green, canescent-puberulent. Flowers pinkish orange. Calyx 5-6 mm long, sparsely short-sericeous; segments longer than tube. Petals: standard with dark veining; wings longer than keel; keel encrusted with yellow glands, distinctly pocketed. Pod covered in long, stiff, yellow hairs. Seeds black or dark brown.
Erect or sprawling shrublet, 15-45 cm. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, erect, leaflets elliptic, adpressed-hairy, silvery below. Flowers in pedunculate racemes, brownish orange. Pods oblong, rusty yellow-hairy.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.3
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 5-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

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

Cultivation

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

Distribution

Eriosema squarrosum world distribution map, present in South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:494176-1
WFO ID wfo-0000195527
COL ID 3B69D
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Eriosema squarrosum Eriosema zeyheri Rhynchosia meyeri Rhynchosia zeyheri Eriosema ambiguum Hedysarum squarrosum Desmodium squarrosum Desmodium squarrosum var. acutifolium Eriosema reticulatum var. canescens