Fabaceae
Ophrestia

Ophrestia hedysaroides (Willd.) Verdc.

First published in Kew Bull. 24: 259 (1970)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is W. Tropical Africa to Tanzania and Angola. It is a climbing perennial and 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
Perennial climber ± 2 m. long or, more rarely, suberect and woody herb 0·3–0·9 m. tall.
Morphology Stem
Stems covered with yellowish-brown spreading pubescence.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves pinnately 3(very rarely –5)-foliolate; leaflets elliptic, 1·4–8 cm. long, 0·7–3·9 cm. wide, rounded or emarginate and mucronulate at the apex, rounded or ± cuneate at the base, pubescent on both surfaces, but especially on the raised venation beneath, or sometimes velvety beneath; petiole 0·9–4·5 cm. long; rhachis 4–10 mm. long; petiolules 2 mm. long; stipules filiform, 3–4 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in subsessile axillary (or rarely pseudo-terminal) clusters, 1·5–2·5 cm. long; peduncles 0–15 mm. long; pedicels 2·5–3 mm. long; bracts linear-lanceolate, 1·5 mm. long; bracteoles linear, 2 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx densely covered with spreading ferruginous hairs; tube 2–5 mm. long; lobes linear-triangular, 4–5 mm. long; upper pair joined at the base.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard white, greenish at the base (rarely ? coral-red), elliptic or rounded-oblong, 11 mm. long, 6·5 mm. wide, emarginate, silky outside.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod linear-oblong, 4–6·5 cm. long, 6–8 mm. wide, margined, adpressed pilose or glabrescent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds dark reddish-brown, oblong-ellipsoid, flattened, longest dimension 6·5 mm., shorter dimension 4·2 mm., 1·5 mm. thick; aril well developed.
Figures
Fig. 78, p. 527.
Habitat
Bushland, forest edges, grassland, old cultivations; 0-1270 m.
Distribution
K7 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7
[FTEA]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Sudanian grasslands, Zanzibar-Inhambane regional transition zone; bushland and thicket., Sudanian bushland and thicket, Zambezian grassland, Zambezian bushland and thicket, Zanzibar-Inhambane regional transition zone; grassland.
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Climbing, Herb
[ILDIS]

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]

Papilionaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:2. 1958

Morphology General Habit
Stems woody at the base, wide climbing above
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers white
Note
Easily confused with Galactia tenuiflora which has a glabrous standard petal.
[FWTA]

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

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical 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