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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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CANAVALIA DC
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Contributor
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W. G. D'Arcy
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PlaceOfPublication
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Prodr. 2: 403. 1825.
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Note
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TYPE: C. ensiformis (L.) DC. Nom. cons. contra Canavali Adans.
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Synonym
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Canavali Adans., Fam. P1. 2: 325, 531. 1763. TYPE: Dolichos ensiformis L. = Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC. nomen rejic. contra Canavalia DC. Wenderothia Schlecht., Linnaea 12: 330. 1838. TYPE: W. discolor Schlecht. = Canavalia villosa Benth.
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Description
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Twining vines, prostrate, clambering or high climbing, rarely more or less erect subshrubs, mostly perennial, somewhat woody; stems often sturdy, mostly pubescent. Leaves alternate, pinnate trifoliolate, the leaflets mostly nearly sym- metrical, ovate or elliptical, sometimes broad, mucronulate, rarely emarginate, mostly pubescent on both sides, pinnately veined, the principal veins and costa slender and elevated beneath; petiolules 5-7 mm long, mostly pubescent with stiff ascending hairs; petioles equalling or shorter than the terminal leaflet; stipels minute and caducous; stipules caducous. Inflorescences axillary racemes, mostly 10-60 cm long, pendant or prostrate and ascending; peduncles with swollen nodes each bearing 2-6 pedicels; bracts caducous; bracteoles rotund to acute, caducous; pedicels mostly 1-3 mm long, the flowers mostly resupinate. Flowers showy, somewhat fragrant; the calyx tubular or campanulate, bilabiate, the upper lip sometimes forming a short beak, and when pressed appearing either entire or emarginate, the lower lip of 3 minute teeth, the lateral pair often rotund, the lowest tooth mostly pointed; corolla white, purplish, bluish, pink or red, some- times with white or yellow markings, the standard obovate, reflexed, emarginate (subgenus Wenderothia) or entire, the wings free, narrow, auricled, the keel ascending, united, auricled; stamens mostly united, the vexillary stamen some- times more or less free; stigma capitate, the ovary pubescent. Legume 6-40 cm long and 1.5-5 cm wide, oblong, often falcate when young, apically beaked, sometimes stipitate, coriaceous or becoming woody, mostly compressed, with prominent longitudinal ridges and 1 or 2 (3) ridges on the valves, dehiscent, sometimes explosively, the valves often twisting, pubescent or glabrescent; seeds numerous imbedded in a papery endocarp, sometimes buoyant, brown, mottled or white, mostly ellipsoidal and somewhat compressed, the hilum peripheral, short or long, 7-35 mm long.
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Habit
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vines
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Note
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Canavalia is recognizable by its large, often woody oblong pods, and by the sturdy stems. The calyx is diagnostic with its often beaked upper lip and minute 3-toothed lower lip. The genus is pantropical in distribution with about 30 species in the New World and about 15 species in the Old World, mostly from the eastern Indian Ocean area and the western Pacific. A few species also occur in Hawaii. Only one species, C. maritima, is pantropical, a common element of beaches and coastlines, but at least two species are cultivated as experimental forage crops. Canavalia ensiformis was cultivated for food in pre-Colombian America.
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Reference
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Sauer, J. 1964. Revision of Canavalia. Brittonia 16: 106-181.
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Key
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a. Leaflets nearly circular, emarginate; terminal petiolule often more than 5 mm long; pedicels commonly 3 mm long; plants common on beaches and coastal rocks ...... 7. C. maritima aa. Leaflets narrower, pointed; terminal petiolule mostly less than 5 mm long; pedicels mostly less than 2.5 mm long; plants occurring behind beaches and inland. b. Calyx more than 15 mm long, lowest tooth mostly over 2.5 mm long; leaves mostly copiously pubescent, at least beneath ...... 9. C. villosa bb. Calyx less than 15 mm long, lowest tooth less than 2.5 mm long; leaves often glabrate beneath. c. Lowest calyx tooth shorter than the lateral teeth. d. Pod with 2 extra longitudinal ridges spaced well away from the sutural ridge, pubescent overall at maturity, upper calyx lip shorter than the tube, the lowest tooth less than 2 mm long ...... 1. C. bicarinata dd. Pod with one extra sutural ridge spaced near the sutural ridge, glabrate at maturity; upper calyx lip as long as the tube, the lowest tooth over 2 mm long ...... 3. C. dictyota cc. Lowest calyx tooth longer than the lateral teeth. e. Seeds red or white; pedicels sometimes 2 mm long or more; cultivated species. f. Seeds white; hilum less than 1/2 as long as the seed; the lowest calyx tooth ca. 2.5 mm long ...... 4. C. ensiformis ff. Seeds red or pink, hilum more than 1/2 as long as the seed; the lowest calyx tooth ca. 1.5 mm long ...... 6. C. gladiata ee. Seeds brown; pedicels 2 mm long or less; wild species. g. Pods with extra ridge(s) spaced well away from the sutures; lowest calyx tooth less than 2 mm long. h. Pod with two extra ribs, evenly pubescent at maturity; seeds ca. 9 mm long ...... 1. C. bicarinata hh. Pod with 1 extra rib, glabrescent; seeds ca. 17 mm long ...... 8. C . oxyp hylla gg. Pods with extra ridge near (to 6 mm) the sutural ridges; lowest calyx tooth mostly more than 2 mm long. i. Upper calyx lip forming a distinct beak or umbo ...... 5. C. glabra ii. Upper calyx lip emarginate, not forming an umbo ...... 2. C. brasiliensis
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