Psoralea floccosa C.H.Stirt., Muasya & A.Bello

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Psoralea

Characteristics

Weak sparsely branched shrub to 2.5 m tall, reseeder. Stems erect, single, branching in upper parts, lax, arching to erect, brown to greyish black. Seasonal shoots glaucous, rough, greenish white, densely covered in dense woolly patent white hairs. Leaves 9-11 (13)-foliolate, petiolate, pilose, two lowest pairs of leaflets emerge from the same node or very close, often bent downwards, separated from the rest by a wide gap on the rachis, the rest of the leaflets curved towards the apex; leaflets 13-17 x 0.3-0.4 mm, linear lanceolate, rounded, grooved, terminal leaflet shortest, basal pair longest, three uppermost digitately inserted; petioles 2-3 mm long, shorter than terminal leaflets; rachis 7-10 mm long, hairy; stipules 2-3 x 0.5-1.5 mm, persistent, densely hairy, subulate, margins unrolled away from the axis, shorter or equal in length to the petiole, ovate. Inflorescences axillary, borne in upper axils of the old seasonal shoots (or along the length of young seasonal shoots) with terminal leafy extension, pseudo-spicate (on young seasonal shoots) or pseudo-capitate (on older shoots), lax, 1-3 flowers per axil; pedunculate, pedicel absent; peduncles 1-2 mm long, stout and rigid, densely pubescent; cupulum trilobed, overlapping the calyx, 3 mm long, densely pubescent with a mixture of black and white hairs, lobes unequally developed, carinal lobe longer, 2 mm long, vexillary lobe with a cleft, 1.5-2 mm long, all acuminate, upper surface of the lobes with white hairs. Flowers 10-11 mm long, white to mauve. Calyx 6-7 mm long, tube 2.5-3 x 4 mm; densely hairy, mainly white-haired with or without occasional black hairs; lobes sub-equal, shorter or equal to the tube, hairy, carinal lobe longer, 3-4 mm long, boat-shaped, lateral and vexillar lobe acuminate with dense black hairs on the margin. Standard petal 10-12 x 13-15 mm, very broadly ovate, white to mauve with triangular dark central purple flash in the crotch and purple veins; claw 3-4 mm long. Wing petals 9-11 x 3-4 mm, white to mauve; cultrate and upcurving; claw 2-2.5 mm long, much longer than keel, auriculate, sculpturing present, upper basal, comprised of 8-12 transcostal lamellae. Keel 9-10 x 3-4 mm, white, apically suffused with dark violet-purple on inner face of apex; claw 3-4 mm long; apex acuminate. Androecium 10 mm long, sheath split adaxially, tenth stamen lightly adherent to the right hand base of the sheath margin, fenestrate. Pistil 10 mm long, ovary 2 mm long, stipitate; style 6 mm long, straight to the point of flexure, swollen at point of curvature, height of curvature 3 mm long, stigma capitate, penicillate. Fruits 4-5 x 2.5-3.0 mm, oblong. Seeds 2-4 x 2 mm, dark brown to black.
Life form -
Growth form shrub
Growth support -
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 2.5
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 1-6
Soil texture 3-8
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

Uses -
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

Psoralea floccosa world distribution map, present in South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77165948-1
WFO ID wfo-0001420977
COL ID -
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Psoralea floccosa