Rhynchosia minima (L.) Dc.

Least snoutbean (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Rhynchosia

Characteristics

Perennial climbing or prostrate herb, with several stems 0.3-several metres long from a woody rootstock. Stems glabrous to velvety. Leaflets 3, 0.9-6 x 0.8-5 cm, rhombic, ovate or suborbicular, the laterals oblique, acuminate, acute or rounded at the apex, cuneate, rounded or truncate at the base, glabrescent to velvety, densely gland-dotted beneath; petiole 0.7-4 cm long; rhachis 2-12 mm long; petiolules 0.5-1.5 mm long; stipules small, 3.5 x 0.5 mm, linear-lanceolate. Inflorescences axillary, usually rather lax; rhachis 2-15 cm long; peduncle 1-7 cm long; pedicels 1-1.5 mm long, or up to 12 mm long; bracts minute, deciduous, 2 x 0.5 mm Calyx pubescent; tube 1-2 mm long; lobes 2-7 mm long, triangular to lanceolate, the lowest mostly the longest, the upper pair joined for from ± half their length to almost their entire length. Standard yellow, sometimes with dark red veins or flushed red, 5-10 x 3-7 mm, obovate, puberulous or pubescent, glandular; wings yellow; keel greenish-yellow. Pods 6-20(25) x 3-5 mm, oblong-falcate, glabrescent or sparsely to densely pubescent and often with longer hairs and glands, 1-2-seeded. Seeds brown, grey or blackish, often speckled, 2.5-3.2 x 2-2.5 x 1.2 mm, oblong-reniform.
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0.3-1.0 cm long, the terminal leaflet with longer petiolule; petiole 1.2-4.0 cm long; strigose; stipels subulate, ca. 1.0 mm long; stipules linear to lanceolate, 3.0-10.0 mm long, 0.5-1.0 mm wide, persistent, villosulose. Inflorescence equal-ling or exceeding the leaves, 6.8-13.5 cm long, many flowered, the peduncle 1.2-7.0 cm long, the pedicels ca. 2.0 mm long; bracts lanceolate, ca. 1.0 mm long, caducous. Flowers with the calyx not exceeding the corolla, 2.0-4.0 mm long, the lobes 1.0-3.0 mm long, lanceolate, the upper lobes united part way, puber-ulose, gland dotted; corolla yellow with purplish striations, puberulose, gland dotted, 5.0-7.0 mm long, 3.0-5.0 mm wide, the claw 1.0 mm long, the wings oblong, 4.0-5.0 mm long, 1.75-2.0 mm wide, the claw 1.0 mm long, the keel falcate, 5.0-6.0 mm long, 1.5-2.0 mm wide, the claw 1.0-2.0 mm long; stamens 5.0-7.0 mm long. Fruits oblong, ovate, strigose, gland dotted, 0.9-1.5 cm long, 0.3-0.4 cm wide, the beak 0.5-1.0 mm long; seeds ovoid, brown, black mottled ca. 3.0 mm long, ca. 2.0 mm wide, hilum ovate, 0.5-1.0 mm long, the strophiole lobes narrow.
Herbs, annual. Stems twining, slender, sparsely pubescent. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules small, lanceolate, usually 1-2 mm; petiole 1-4 cm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent; stipels extremely small; petiolules extremely short; leaflets ± mem­branous; terminal leaflet rhomboid-circular, 1.5-3 × 1.5-3 cm, sometimes wider than long, glabrous or sparsely villous, abax­ially densely glandular, basal veins 3, apex obtuse or rounded, rarely shortly acute; lateral leaflets subequal to terminal leaflet or shorter, obliquely circular. Raceme 5-11 cm, axis slender, sparsely pubescent; bracts small, lanceolate, deciduous. Flowers 6-8 mm, slightly curved; pedicel extremely short. Calyx ca. 5 mm, sparsely pubescent; lobes lanceolate, slightly shorter than tube, lower one longer. Corolla yellow, longer than calyx, petals subequal; standard obovate-circular, base with 2 acute auricles; wings obovate-elliptic, auriculate; keels slightly curved, apex obtuse. Legume oblanceolate to ellipsoid, 1-2 × 0.4-0.5 cm, pubescent, 1-or 2-seeded. Fl. May-Oct, fr. Sep-Nov. 2n = 22.
Perennial climbing or prostrate herb, 0.1-1.5 m high, with glabrous to velvety stems from a woody rootstock. Leaves pinnately trifoliolate. Leaflets ovate, rhomboid or suborbicular, glabrescent to velvety, acute or obtuse at tip, densely gland-dotted below. Stipules small, linear-lanceolate. Inflorescences lax, axillary racemes. Flowers small, yellow, sometimes with dark red veins or flushed red. Flowering time Aug.-Apr.
A slender trailing herb. It has a woody rootstock. It has fine hairs. It can lie along the ground. It can be 5 m long. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets taper to a sharp point at the tip. There are 3 varieties. The flower are 5-10 mm long with a yellow standard. The pods are 20 mm long by 4-5 mm wide. They are narrowed at the base.
Herbaceous to suffrutescent vine; stems angular, puberulent to villosulose. Leaves trifoliolate, the leaflets ovate to ovate rhomboid to orbicular, 2.0-3.8 cm long, 1.0-3.0 cm wide, apically acute, basally cuneate to truncate, glabrous to finely strigulose above, puberulose to villosulose, gland dotted beneath; petiolule
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support climber
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.65 - 1.35
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 0.85
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer rhizobia
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a tropical plant. It grows in open savannah and drier parts of West Africa. It grows between 30-2,440 m above sea level. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 1,000-1,270 m above sea level. It can grow in salty soil. It can grow in arid places. In Argentina it grows below 500 m above sea level. In Sichuan and Yunnan.
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Grassland, grassland with scattered trees, dambo and pan margins and woody bushland. Reported from ruderal land, roadside, grazed and human disturbed land, generally on plain land and sandy black soil; at elevations up to 4,000 metres.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The leaves are used for tea and also used as a relish.
Uses animal food environmental use essential oil fodder food forage medicinal poison social use tea vertebrate poison
Edible flowers leaves seeds
Therapeutic use Abortifacient agents (leaf), Fever (leaf), Abortifacient (unspecified), Piscicide (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°) 22 - 34
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Rhynchosia minima habit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Rhynchosia minima habit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Rhynchosia minima habit picture by Bre Bitz (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Rhynchosia minima leaf picture by Rakesh Verma (cc-by-sa)
Rhynchosia minima leaf picture by Deedra Alexander (cc-by-sa)
Rhynchosia minima leaf picture by Deedra Alexander (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Rhynchosia minima flower picture by Mama Wimbo (cc-by-sa)
Rhynchosia minima flower picture by Deedra Alexander (cc-by-sa)
Rhynchosia minima flower picture by I AM (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Rhynchosia minima fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Rhynchosia minima fruit picture by claire Felloni (cc-by-sa)
Rhynchosia minima fruit picture by Juan Carlos Ordonez (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Rhynchosia minima world distribution map, present in Afghanistan, Angola, Anguilla, Argentina, American Samoa, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Burundi, Benin, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Barbados, Bhutan, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Colombia, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guernsey, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Guatemala, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Mexico, Mali, Myanmar, Montserrat, Martinique, Mauritius, Malaysia, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Niue, Netherlands, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Senegal, Singapore, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Somalia, Suriname, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Taiwan, Province of China, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, United States of America, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, Yemen, and South Africa

Conservation status

Rhynchosia minima threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1197938-2
WFO ID wfo-0000186780
COL ID 4SSN7
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 447209
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Dolichos medicagineus Dolichos medicagineus Rhynchosia tenuicaulis Rhynchosia flagellaris Dolichos minimus Rhynchosia tenuis Hedysarum exiguum Hedysarum nudum Rhynchosia microphylla Rhynchosia minima var. diminifolia Rhynchosia rhombifolia var. timoriensis Dolicholus minimus Rhynchosia minima

Lower taxons

Rhynchosia minima var. minima Rhynchosia minima var. nuda Rhynchosia minima var. memnonia Rhynchosia minima var. prostrata Rhynchosia minima var. macrocalyx Rhynchosia minima var. laxiflora Rhynchosia minima var. pedicellata