''Listia'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

and the tribe

Crotalarieae Crotalarieae is a tribe of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae. It includes rooibos ''(Aspalathus linearis)'', harvested for sale as a tisane. Description The Crotalarieae arose 31.2 ± 3.4 million years ago (in the Oligocene). The ...

. Members of this genus are mainly found in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

but some species can be found in central Africa. It was recently segregated from the genus ''

Lotononis ''Lotononis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae and the tribe Crotalarieae. Almost all of the species in the genus occur in southern Africa. Species Several species were recently transferred from ''Lotononis'' to four new or ...

''. Unlike other members of the

, members of the genus ''Listia'' have lupinoid

root nodule Root nodules are found on the roots of plants, primarily legumes, that form a symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, capable plants form a symbiotic relationship with a host-specific strain of bacteria known a ...

s. The genus name of ''Listia'' is in honour of Friedrich Ludwig List (1779-1837), who was a German botanist and teacher. The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer (1 January 1791 – 7 August 1858) was a German botanist and botanical historian. Born in Hanover, he lectured in Göttingen and in 1826 became a professor of botany at the University of Königsberg, as well as Dire ...

in Comm. Pl. Afr. Austr. (Meyer) page 80 in 1835.

Species

As accepted by Kew: * '' Listia angolensis'' (Welw. ''ex'' Bak.) B.-E. van Wyk & Boatwr. * '' Listia bainesii'' (Bak.) B.-E. van Wyk & Boatwr. * '' Listia heterophylla'' (E. Mey.) B.-E. van Wyk & Boatwr. * '' Listia marlothii'' (Engl.) B.-E. van Wyk & Boatwr. * '' Listia minima'' (B.-E. van Wyk) B.-E. van Wyk & Boatwr. * '' Listia solitudinis'' (Dümmer) B.-E. van Wyk & Boatwr. * '' Listia subulata'' (B.-E. van Wyk) B.-E. van Wyk & Boatwr.

References

Crotalarieae Fabaceae genera Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of South Tropical Africa Flora of Southern Africa {{Faboideae-stub