Fabaceae
Vigna

Vigna wittei Baker f.

First published in Rev. Zool. Bot. Africaines 21: 304 (1932)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Nigeria to Tanzania and Namibia. 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
Annual or perennial trailing or entirely prostrate herb, up to 1·8 m. long, or sometimes suberect and short, ± 15 cm. tall.
Morphology Stem
Stems densely covered with spreading yellowish or dark brown bristly hairs.
Morphology Leaves
Leaflets 3, ovate to lanceolate in outline, 2·8–10 cm. long, 0·7–7 cm. wide, entire to more usually 3-lobed or pinnatifid; lobes up to 9, the basal ones sometimes bifid at the apex, subacute and mucronulate at the apex, rounded to cuneate at the base, adpressed bristly pubescent on both surfaces; tertiary venation closely parallel and at right-angles to the midrib; petioles 2–26 cm. long; rhachis 0·5–3 cm. long; petiolules 3 mm. long; stipules lanceolate, 5–10 mm. long, prolonged and subcordate at the base.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences axillary, sub-umbellate, 1–3-flowered; peduncle 4–25 cm. long; pedicels ± 1 mm. long; bracts and bracteoles deciduous, lanceolate, 2–3·5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx densely covered with white or brown bristly hairs; tube 3–4 mm. long; lobes linear-lanceolate, 5–9 mm. long, the upper pair joined for two-thirds of their length.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard mauve, paler outside, obovate, 1–1·8 cm. long, 1·5–2 cm. wide, emarginate, glabrous; wings mauve; keel cream, the beak short, not twisted.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods erect, linear-cylindrical, 3·8–5 cm. long, 4–5 mm. wide, sparsely covered with adpressed white or dark brown bristly hairs, 5–8-seeded.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds brown speckled dark brown, oblong, longest dimension 3–4·5 mm., shorter dimension 2–3 mm., 2–5 mm. thick; rim-aril developed, greenish.
Habitat
Grassland, dry woodland; 250–1160 m.
Distribution
T4 T8
[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]

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/

  • 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