Lonchocarpus capassa Rolfe

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

Morphology General Habit

More or less evergreen tree, 4.5–21 (–27) m. tall, with a rounded crown; bark grey, becoming reticulately fissured, rough and flaking; slash cream to yellow-green, sometimes at least producing a red sticky exudate.

Morphology Branches

Young branchlets with a ± dense grey or yellowish-grey indumentum of small crisped hairs; older branchlets glabrescent.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves ± 17–32 cm. long; stipules linear-lanceolate to pointed-oblong, 6–8 mm. long, sometimes rather rigid and subpersistent; stipels setaceous, 2–4 mm. long; lateral leaflets in 1–2 (vary rarely –3) pairs, lanceolate to ovate or elliptic-oblong, 5.5–12(–17) cm. long, 2–6.5(–10) cm. wide, pointed to rounded at apex, narrowed to the cuneate, rounded or slightly cordate base, a little unequal-sided, ultimately coriaceous, densely covered at least beneath with a greyish or yellowish-grey indumentum of very short crisped hairs, usually ± glabrescent above and to some extent beneath, but sometimes rather persistently floccose-tomentose; primary lateral nerves 7–9 on either side, fairly closely spaced, prominent beneath; venation rather closely reticulate, similarly prominent.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Panicles predominantly terminal, ultimately pendulous, with numerous relatively snort slender branches, up to 15–34 cm. long; axes ± densely and shortly covered with hairs like those of the branchlets; bracts linear or lanceolate, 1–2 mm. long, evanescent; bracteoles near top of the 2–5 mm. long pedicel, linear, 1–2 mm. long, caducous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx 4.5–7 mm. long, with a short silvery-grey tomentum; lateral lobes pointed, often acuminate, 2–3 mm. long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla 9–12 mm. long, pale mauve to purplish, faintly scented, often (almost invariably in East Africa) sparsely and shortly hairy at least at the tip of the standard outside; standard obovate, basally auriculate and with small calluses just above.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit elliptic-oblong to linear-oblong, with a narrow wing along the upper edge, pointed or acuminate, abruptly to attenuately narrowed to a 5–15 mm. long stipe, 7–15(–21) cm. long, 2–3.5(–4) cm. wide, covered with a short ± dense crisped indumentum (sometimes wearing away on older fruits), laxly venose, 1–2(–3)-seeded.

Habitat

Deciduous woodland, wooded grassland and riverine forest, in drier areas often in zones of local water-catchment at base of scarps, along watercourses and on hardpans; 150–1650 m.

Distribution

T1 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 widespread in the drier parts of southern Africa, extending to the Congo (Katanga), SE. Angola, South West Africa and South Africa (NW. Cape Province, Natal and Transvaal), characteristic of major river drainage systems

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