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(Last Modified On 9/24/2013)
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(Last Modified On 9/24/2013)
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Genus
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ABRUS L.
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Contributor
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W. G. D'Arcy
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PlaceOfPublication
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Nat., ed. 12. 2: 472. 1767.
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Note
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TYPE: A. precatorius L.
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Description
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Mostly twining vines, seldom shrubby. Leaves even pinnate; leaflets mostly numerous, mucronate; rachis grooved, mucronate; stipels minute; stipules per- sistent. Inflorescences axillary or lateral pseudoracemes, terminating leafy or leafless branches, with 1-several sessile flowers at a node; bracts and bracteoles often caducous. Flowers with the calyx campanulate, lobed or short toothed; standard apically notched and with a short claw, the wing petals shorter than the keel petals; stamens 9, monadelphous, the staminal tube adnate to the standard; style curved, glabrate. Legume oblong to linear, much compressed or not, the valves pubescent, often becoming indurated, septate, the short slender beak downturned; seeds ovoid, sometimes compressed, arillate, sometimes with an annulus around the hilum.
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Habit
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vines
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Note
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This genus resembles members of the Phaseoleae in its many leaflets which are borne equal pinnately. The 9 stamens with united filaments are distinctive, as is the lack of a terminal leaflet. The genus is circumtropical and, according to circumscription, includes 4-24 species. Only 2 of these species occur in the New World.
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Reference
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Breteler, F. J. 1960. Revision of Abrus Adanson (PAP.) with special reference to Africa. Blumea 10: 607-624. Verdcourt, B. 1970. Studies in the Leguminosae-Papilionoideae for the 'Flora of Tropical East Africa': 11. Kew Bull. 24: 235-307.
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