Woody climber to 1·2–1·5 m. tall from an enormous woody tuber.. Stems branched, often pale reddish-brown, sometimes nodulous, glabrous to sparsely pubescent.. Leaflets ovate to narrowly ovate-rhomboid, 1–5·7 cm. long, 0·8–5·3 cm. wide, sometimes ± 3-lobed, the laterals oblique, glabrous or with sparse hairs along the margins or sometimes uniformly sparsely pubescent; petioles 0·6–6 cm. long; rhachis 0·4–2 cm. long; petiolules 1–2 mm. long; stipules oblong, 3·5 mm. long, 1·5 mm. wide, ribbed.. Inflorescences 7–45 cm. long above a peduncle 6–21 cm. long, adpressed puberulous to densely silvery pubescent; nodes sometimes attaining 1 cm., 2–3-many-flowered; pedicels 3 mm. long; bracts very deciduous, ovate, 1·5–2 mm. long, pubescent, ribbed; bracteoles deciduous, squarish, 1·5 mm. long, ribbed.. Calyx glabrous or minutely scaly at base; tube 2·5 mm. long; lobes 2·5 mm. long, with ciliolate margins.. Standard dull purplish or brownish-claret with green base and green veins inside, greenish outside, 1–1·8 cm. long, 1·3–2·1 cm. wide, emarginate; wings magenta-purple, green below; keel greenish flushed purple, or magenta-purple with apex greenish.. Pods linear-oblong, curved, flattened, 4·5–6 cm. long, 5·5–10 mm. wide, widening towards the apex, at first adpressed silky pubescent, becoming glabrescent.. Seeds brown, sometimes densely speckled with black, subglobose or irregularly ellipsoid or squarish, sometimes quite compressed, longest dimension 4·5–7 mm., shorter dimension 4·5–6·5 mm., thickness 2·5–3 mm.. Fig. 93, p. 610.
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A climbing herb. It climbs over shrubs in dry country. The stems are a greenish-purple. The roots are long and swollen. They are juicy and fibrous. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The flowers are purple and green. The fruit are pods that are slightly curved and softly hairy. They have about 6 seeds.
All parts are eaten raw. The tubers can be eaten raw or boiled. They can also be peeled, chopped and dried then ground to produce flour. This is used with sorghum flour to produce porridge. The seeds can be eaten raw or cooked. The flowers and leaves are cooked and eaten.
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