Neptunia pubescens Benth.

Tropical puff (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Neptunia

Characteristics

Slender herbs or subshrub, prostrate or ascending from a somewhat woody base, the branchlets terete, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves moderate or moderately small, bipinnate, the pinnae 2-4 (normally 3) pairs opposite on the rachis, the leaflets many (12-40) pairs per pinna; petiole slender, 1-2 cm. long, pubescent or gla-brous, eglandular; rachis about as long as the petiole, eglandular, terminally apicu-late; pinnae mostly 2-4 cm. long, moderately remote, the axis somewhat alate; leaflets linear-oblong, 3-5 mm. long and 1-2 mm. wide, obtuse apically, obliquely rounded basally, usually glabrous except for a ciliate margin, the venation promi-nent below but remote; stipules ovate or lanceolate, about 4-5 mm. long, promi-nently longitudinally striate-nerved, subpersistent. Inflorescence of solitary, axillary, pedunculate heads; peduncles elongate, up to 6 cm. long in age, usually minutely 1-to few-bracteate near or above the middle; heads globose to briefly oblong, bearing dimorphic flowers; floral bractlets lanceolate or oblanceolate, about 2 mm. long, ciliate or glabrous. Flowers of 2 (3?) types, the few lower ones of head unisexual and with conspicuous petaloid stamens or staminodia; upper flowers without petaloid stamens or staminodia, usually perfect (occasionally with pistil aborted), sessile, yellow; calyx cupulate-funnelform, about 2 mm. long in perfect flowers, somewhat shorter in basal flowers, prominently 5-lobed, the lobes usually ciliate; corolla funnelform, about 3 mm. long in perfect flowers, somewhat shorter in basal flowers, glabrous, 5-lobate, the lobes about equalling the imperfectly closed tube; stamens (or staminodia) usually 10, glabrous, 5-6 mm. long; ovary glabrous, subfusiform, the style stout and about equalling the stamens. Legume broadly oblong, mostly 2-3 cm. long and 1 cm. wide or wider, flat, rounded apical-ly and briefly mucronate, substipitate basally, 2-valved, few-seeded, glabrous, the seeds transverse and slightly oblique.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
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Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Nitrogen fixer rhizobia
Photosynthetic pathway c3

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Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

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Edible -
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Cultivation

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Images

Leaf

Neptunia pubescens leaf picture by liliana nunez (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Neptunia pubescens flower picture by Eslava Silva felipe de jesus (cc-by-sa)
Neptunia pubescens flower picture by Cindy Sue Newton (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Neptunia pubescens world distribution map, present in Argentina, American Samoa, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Mexico, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Singapore, El Salvador, Uruguay, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30003916-2
WFO ID wfo-0000183537
COL ID 6S8RN
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 630222
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Neptunia pubescens

Lower taxons

Neptunia pubescens var. pubescens Neptunia pubescens var. microcarpa