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

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Psoralea

Characteristics

Slender shrub to 2 m tall, colonial, resprouter. Stems single, erect, young stems greenish yellow with storied and scattered white lenticels, later turning brown with a rough striated surface, then greying; short lateral branches numerous at seedling and sapling stages but wither away with strong branches forming mainly in the upper portions. Seasonal shoots glabrescent, green with purple striae. Leaves 13-15(17)-foliolate, distributed along the branches, patent, petiolate, grooved; leaflets 13-20 x 0.5-1.0 mm, linear (saplings with narrowly lanceolate leaflets), apiculate, terminal leaflet shortest, basal pair longest, three uppermost pinnately inserted; petioles 5-7 mm long, shorter than terminal leaflet; rachis 20-25 mm long; stipules 4-5 x 0.5-1 mm, persistent, shorter than petiole, free, glabrous, rapidly senescent, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, spreading then recurving. Inflorescences axillary, borne along the length of seasonal shoots, pseudo-spicate, lax, 1-3-flowers per axil, pedunculate, pedicellate; peduncles filiform and flexuous, 30-50 mm long, exerted from leaves; cupulum bilobed, 1 mm long, lobes equally developed, setose, scarious; pedicels 3-4 mm long. Flowers 12-14 mm long, mauve and white. Calyx 5-6 mm long, tube 4-5 x 4 mm, glabrous or with sparse white hairs, yellowish green, smooth, shiny, purple at abaxial part of the margins; lobes sub-equally developed, glabrescent, longer than the tube, lower lobe slightly longer, lateral and vexillar lobes acute, falcate, narrowly triangular, lower lobe acute, sparsely glandular, glands constant in size. Standard petal 10-11 x 8-9 mm, broadly elliptic, pale mauve in upper part fading to white in lower part and sides, with faint vertical stripe in centre, veins darker in front, back purplish; claw 3-4 mm long. Wing petals 8-10 x 3-4 mm, white, held erect exposing keel; sculpturing present, upper surface comprised of 3-4 rows of 9-10 transcostal lamellae near the auricle; claw 2-3 mm long. Keel 5-6 x 3-4 mm, white, suffused on inner face apically with dark violet-purple patch; claw 3-4 mm long. Androecium 8 mm long, tenth stamen lightly attached, fenestrate. Pistil 8 mm long, ovary 2 mm, style straight, 4 mm long then upcurved, thickened at the point of flexure, height of curvature 3.5 mm long. Fruits 4-5 x 2.5-3.0 mm, oblong. Seeds 2-4 x 2 mm, dark brown to black.
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Growth form shrub
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Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Mature height (meter) 2.0
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Nitrogen fixer rhizobia
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Soil texture 5-6
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Usage

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Cultivation

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Distribution

Psoralea suaveolens world distribution map, present in South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77165935-1
WFO ID wfo-0001420992
COL ID -
BDTFX ID -
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Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Psoralea suaveolens