Tephrosia lurida Sond.

First published in Linnaea 23: 30 (1850)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Kenya to Eswatini. 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
Perennial with a woody rootstock; stems prostrate or more often ascending, like the leaf-rhachides sparsely or less often densely appressed pubescent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves (l–)3–5(–9)-foliolate, the petiole up to 4 or even 8 cm. long, usually longer than the rest of the rhachis; stipules narrowly triangular, up to 1 cm. long, often blackish; leaflets linear or narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, up to 12 cm. long, usually not above 5 mm. wide but up to 10 mm. in Zambia and Tanganyika, ending in a stout blackish often recurved mucro, glabrous above, appressed pubescent beneath, the hairs not sufficiently dense to hide the surface; lateral nerves very numerous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in terminal pseudoracemes; bracts linear, up to 7 mm. long; pedicels 3–5 mm.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx brownish pubescent; teeth triangular, about as long as the tube or with acuminate tips and a little longer.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla pink or purple; standard 12–18 mm. long; keel glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Upper filament lightly attached, callous and bent 1 mm. above the base; filament-sheath 10–12 mm., free parts 2–4 mm., anthers 1 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style bent sharply upwards near the base, then straight, linear, pubescent, 4–5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod ascending, slightly upcurved, 5–6 cm. long, 4–5 mm. wide, stiffly and shortly fulvous or white spreading pubescent; style-base straight.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 11–14, mottled, longitudinal, oblong-ellipsoid, ± 3 × 2 × 1.2 mm.; hilum two-fifths along one side, the aril small, white, annular.
Habitat
Grassland and bushland; 1200–2200 m.; rainfall 700–1000 mm.
Distribution
K1 K3 K4 K6 T7
[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: Afromontane grassland, Somalia-Masai bushland and thicket, Zambezian grassland
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Herb/Shrub
[ILDIS]

Uses

Use
Medicine
[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

  • 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