Eriosema shirense Baker f.
var. shirense

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Mpinge Pass, Great Dyke

Photo: Bart Wursten
Kopje Tops, Mavhuradonha Wilderness Area

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Synonyms:	Eriosema filipendulum Welw. ex Baker f.
Common names:	Tsombori (English)
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Perennial herb with 1-few erect stems up to c. 'à cm high growing from a tuberous rootstock. Leaves mostly 3-foliolate. Leaflets elliptic to lanceolate, up to 14 cm long, covered with long spreading hairs, particularly on the margins and veins beneath; petiole 1-10 mm long; stipules leaf-opposed,narrowly oblong to lanceolate; 10-23 mm long. Flowers in upper axillary or pseudo-terminal racemes on a ridged, hairy peduncle 1.2-14 cm long. Calyx with long spreading hairs and yellowish glands. Standard cream-coloured with reddish or brownish veins outside, often more yellow inside; wings yellow, keel greenish. Pods broadly oblong-elliptic, 1-1.3 cm long, covered in long rust-coloured hairs.
Notes:	See var. pawekiae for comparison.
Derivation of specific name:	shirense: of the Shire Valley in Southern Malawi, where the type specimen was collected.
Habitat:	Grassland, dry and moist margins of vleis, open Uapaca woodland and mixed Brachystegia woodland.
Altitude range: (metres)	690 - 1920 m
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Angola, Cameroon, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe distribution:	N,W,C,E,S
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:	Saturday 22 December 2012
Literature:	Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 159. Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 16. As Eriosema shirense oubanguiense Da Silva, M.C., Izidine, S. & Amude, A.B. (2004). A preliminary checklist of the vascular plants of Mozambique. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 30 Sabonet, Pretoria Page 68. Drummond, R.B. (1972). A list of Rhodesian Legumes. Kirkia 8(2) Page 220. as Eriosema shirense Mackinder, B. et al. (2001). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(5) Pages 233 - 234. 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 48. Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 60. Wursten, B., Timberlake, J. & Darbyshire, I. (2017). The Chimanimani Mountains: an updated checklist. Kirkia 19(1) Page 94.

Other sources of information about Eriosema shirense var. shirense:

Our websites:

Flora of Malawi: Eriosema shirense var. shirense
Flora of Mozambique: Eriosema shirense var. shirense
Flora of Zambia: Eriosema shirense var. shirense

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Eriosema shirense
African Plant Database: Eriosema shirense
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Eriosema shirense
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Eriosema shirense
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Eriosema shirense
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Eriosema shirense
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Eriosema shirense
JSTOR Plant Science: Eriosema shirense
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Eriosema shirense
Plants of the World Online: Eriosema shirense
Tropicos: Eriosema shirense
Wikipedia: Eriosema shirense