Description:
Climbing herbs or subshrubs. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules small, striate; stipels present. Inflorescences (1)few-many-flowered, falsely racemose; bracts paired, striate; bracteoles appressed tocalyx, striate. Calyx 5-lobed, upper pair largely joined into a bifid lip. Corolla showy; standard broad, with a conspicuous spur on back above claw, often pubescent outside. Stamens : vexillary filament free or joined to others at base. Ovary linear, many-ovuled; style curved, flattened and slightly widened towards terminal stigma, pubescent or bearded at apex. Pod linear, with 4 raised nerves or wings, dehiscent. Seeds variously coloured, oblong or ellipsoid, with an elliptic to linear hilum.
Distribution:
Species +/- 45, neotropics and subtropics, a few of which are widely cultivated in the Old World as cover crops; sthn trop. Afr. 1: *Centrosema pubescens Benth., cultivated and recorded as an escape, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.
Source:
SSTA
Classification:
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