Fabaceae
Eriosema

Eriosema robustum Baker

First published in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 2: 229 (1871)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Cameroon to Ethiopia and Tanzania. It grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit
Subshrub, woody below, branched above, 0·9–2·4 m. tall.
Morphology Branches
Branches densely covered with adpressed and spreading silvery white or ferruginous hairs.
Morphology Leaves
Leaflets 3, ovate, elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, 4–16 cm. long, 1·5–7·2 cm. wide, acuminate or rarely only subacute at the apex, rounded at the base, velvety pubescent on both surfaces but particularly beneath, sparsely glandular above, more densely so beneath; venation raised beneath; petiole (1·5–)2–4·2 cm. long; rhachis 2–8 mm. long; petiolules 4–7 mm. long; stipules oblong-elliptic or sometimes narrower, 1–2·6 cm. long, 0·4–1·1 cm. wide, hairy, veined.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes terminal and axillary, the upper ones forming together a large paniculate inflorescence; individual racemes dense, woolly, the rhachis 4–9 cm. long; peduncles 4–9 cm. long, very hairy; pedicels 2–3 mm. long; bracts dull red or yellow with reddish-purple apices, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, (1·1–)1·3–1·6 cm. long, (5–)7–10 mm. wide, acuminate, hairy outside.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx red or mauve becoming papery and enlarging with maturity, shaggy with silvery or ferruginous hairs, 1·3–2 cm. long; lobes unequal, the lower much the longer, elliptic to linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 2–3 times as long as the short tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla almost hidden in the hairs of the calyx; standard reddish-purple outside, yellow inside, elliptic, (0·9–)1·2–1·5 cm. long, 6·5–10 mm. wide, densely hairy; wings and keel yellow, glandular.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods oblong, 1·2–1·7 cm. long, 0·8–1·2 cm. wide, apiculate, covered with long and short hairs and glands.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds dark or pale brown or pale pinkish-brown, oblong with a slight S-twist, longest dimension 4·5–5·5 mm., shorter dimension 3–3·5 mm., 2–2·5 mm. thick; rim-aril cream.
Habitat
Coarse grassland, bushland, grassy hillsides with scattered Protea and Combretum, rocky hillsides and woodland; (1200–) 1500–2250 m.
Distribution
K3 K5 T1 U3
[FTEA]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Lake Victoria regional transition zone; grasslands, Lake Victoria regional mosaic; wooded grassland, Lake Victoria regional mosaic; bushland and thicket, Sudanian wooded grassland, Sudanian grasslands, Sudanian bushland and thicket
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Herb/Shrub
[ILDIS]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • International Legume Database and Information Service

    • International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0