Home | > | List of families | > | Fabaceae subfamily Papilionoideae | > | Lessertia | > | benguellensis |
Synonyms: |
Coluteastrum benguellense (Baker) Hiern Lessertia emarginata Schinz |
Common names: | |
Frequency: | |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Robust shrubby perennial up to 1.5 m high, growing from a woody rootstock. Stems herbaceous, hairless. Leaves 5–13.5 cm long; leaflets 2–9 on each side, opposite or subopposite, linear-oblong or obovate, 6–25 mm, often emarginate, very sparsely white hairy beneath, hairless above; petiole 1–1.5 cm long, with very sparse white hairs; stipules lanceolate, 1–3 mm long, with white stiff hairs at the margins. Racemes up to 4 cm long, 3–many-flowered; peduncle 3–8 mm long; bracts ovate-lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm long, with stiff white hairs at the margins. Calyx 2.5–3 mm long, divided halfway into 5 equal teeth, with stiff hairs at the margins. Corolla yellow-greenish with the standard and wings streaked with purple-violet-bluish. Pod ovate or obliquely elliptic, sometimes with the dorsal suture arched, 1.5–4 cm long and 1–2 cm high, abruptly tapering at the base into a 2–3 mm long stipe, membranaceous, translucent, brownish, hairless. Seeds 1-7. |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | benguellensis: after the Benguella region of Angola |
Habitat: | On Kalahari Sand in thickets and dry open woodland, often on floodplains and river banks. |
Altitude range: (metres) | 900 - 1150 m |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. |
Zimbabwe distribution: | W |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Tuesday 9 July 2019 |
Literature: |
Drummond, R.B. (1972). A list of Rhodesian Legumes. Kirkia 8(2) Page 223. as Lessertia emarginata Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 171. (Includes a picture). Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 49. Martins, E.S. et al. (2003). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(7) Pages 15 - 17. (Includes a picture). Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 62. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 68. |
Home | > | List of families | > | Fabaceae subfamily Papilionoideae | > | Lessertia | > | benguellensis |