Home | > | List of cultivated families | > | Fabaceae subfamily Papilionoideae | > | Parochetus | > | communis |
Synonyms: |
Parochetus africanus Polhill Parochetus communis sensu Agnew Parochetus communis D. Don var. grossecrenatus Cufod. Parochetus major auct. |
Common names: | |
Description: | Creeping prostrate herb with slender stems, rooting at the nodes. Leaves digitately 3-foliolate; leaflets obovate, up to 4 cm long and wide, emarginate at the apex, green blotched with white in the centre, hairless above, almost hairless to hairy beneath; margins usually coarsely toothed towards the apex; petiole 3–30 cm long, hairy; stipules ovate, 6–10 mm long. Inflorescence usually 1–2-flowered; peduncle 1.5–25 cm long, ascending; bracts similar to stipules but smaller. Flowers sweetly scented, on pedicels 1.5–6 cm long, reflexed in fruit. Calyx c. 7 mm long, the 2 upper lobes connate almost to their tips, the lateral lobes triangular-lanceolate, the lowest lobe longer than the 2 lateral, hairless to sparsely hairy. Corolla pale blue or rarely white, hairless; standard broadly ovate-elliptic, emarginate, 12–18 mm long; wings c. 13 mm long; keel c. 10 mm long, subangular about the middle of the blade, darker blue at the tip. Pod narrowly oblong, 15–25 mm long, shortly beaked, usually hairless. |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | africanus: African |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Eastern DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and possibly Mozambique. |
Growth form(s): | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Literature: |
Agnew, A.D.Q. (2013). Upland Kenya Wild Flowers and Ferns Nature Kenya - The East Africa Natural History Society Page 174. As Parochetus communis (Includes a picture). Martins, E.S. et al. (2003). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(7) Pages 35 - 37. As Parochetus africanus (Includes a picture). |
Home | > | List of cultivated families | > | Fabaceae subfamily Papilionoideae | > | Parochetus | > | communis |