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(Last Modified On 9/27/2013)
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(Last Modified On 9/27/2013)
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Genus
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ERIOSEMA (DC.) G. Don
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Contributor
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Muriel E. Poston
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PlaceOfPublication
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Gen. Hist. 2: 347. 1832.
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Synonym
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Rhynchosia sect. Eriosema DC., Prodr. 2: 388. 1825. TYPE: Eriosema rufum (H.B.K.) G. Don. Euriosma Desv., Ann., Sci. Nat. I. 9(1): 421. 1826. Nomen rejic. TYPE: E. sessiliflora Desv. Euryosma Walp., Rep. 1: 785. 1842. orth. mut. Eriosema (DC.) G. Don.
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Description
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Perennial herbs or subshrubs; stems angular to terete, striate, pubescent. Leaves trifoliolate or rarely unifoliate; leaflets gland-dotted below; stipules lan- ceolate or oblong, usually persistent. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, race- mose, the flowers sometimes congested at the tips; bracts lanceolate, striate strig- ulose, caducous. Flowers with the calyx campanulate, the teeth 5, gland-dotted; corolla papilionaceous, the standard usually yellow with reddish purple to maroon striations, obovate with auriculate base, the wings narrowly oblong, lobed above the claw, the keel falcate; stamens 10, diadelphous, the vexillary stamen free, the anthers equal; ovary sessile or subsessile, villous, the style curved, slender, the stigma capitate. Fruit oblong, bivalved; seeds 2, ovoid, black, brown or mottled, the striophiole white, the hilum linear or oblong.
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Habit
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herbs or subshrubs
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Distribution
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a pantropical genus of about 500 species with the greatest diversity in Africa.
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Note
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In the Americas 38 species are currently recognized (Grear, 1970). Although Eriosema has often been confused with Rhynchosia the two genera can be separated on the basis of habit, petiolar characters, arrangement of the calyx lobes, and characters of the hilum and the striophiole.
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Reference
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Grear, J. W. 1970. A revision of the American species of Eriosema (Legumi- nosae-Lotoideae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 20(3): 1-98.
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Key
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a. Leaves trifoliolate. b. Leaflets ca. 5 times long as wide, linear to lanceolate. c. Leaflets ciliate; inflorescence compact, few-flowered; calyx 2-7 mm long ...... 1. E. crinitum cc. Leaflets not ciliate pubescent; inflorescence a spiciform raceme, multiflorate; calyx 3-5 mm long ...... 4. E. violaceum bb. Leaflets less than 5 times long as wide, broadly lanceolate to lanceolate ...... 2. E. diffusum aa. Leaves unifoliolate ...... 3. E. simplicifolium
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