''Flemingia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of plants in the legume family

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

. It is native to Asia and the

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

are distributed in Bhutan, Burma, China, India; Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The genus was erected in 1812.

Diversity

The number of known species is ambiguous due to

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

problems; and is usually enumerated as more than 30. Burma and China have the highest record of ''Flemingia'' species with 16 each, followed by India (with 15 species), Thailand (11 species), Laos (10 species), Vietnam (8 species), Bhutan (1 species) and Nepal (5 species).

Traditional use

Some species of ''Flemingia'' are used in the herbal medicine traditions of various

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

communities. This is attributed to their unique chemical properties, especially those of

flavonoids Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

and

sterols Sterol is an organic compound with formula , whose molecule is derived from that of gonane by replacement of a hydrogen atom in position 3 by a hydroxyl group. It is therefore an alcohol of gonane. More generally, any compounds that contain the gon ...

. Their most common applications in traditional medicine are for

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

stomach ache Abdominal pain, also known as a stomach ache, is a symptom associated with both non-serious and serious medical issues. Common causes of pain in the abdomen include gastroenteritis and irritable bowel syndrome. About 15% of people have a m ...

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

, cataract,

helminthiasis Helminthiasis, also known as worm infection, is any macroparasitic disease of humans and other animals in which a part of the body is infected with parasitic worms, known as helminths. There are numerous species of these parasites, which are br ...

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

, ulcer, and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

Description

Members of ''Flemingia'' are shrubs, or herbs (or subshrubs);

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

, or

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

and perennial. They are generally about 0.2–1.5 m high. The

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

is prostrate but weak. Leaves are small to medium-sized; not fasciculate, but alternate. The stem and leaves are

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a ...

, with dense hairs. Leaf blades are flat

dorsoventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

ly. Flowers are aggregated in ‘

inflorescences An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

’; not crowded at the stem bases; in

racemes A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

, or in heads, or in

panicles A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are o ...

. Fruits are aerial, about 6–15 mm long; non-fleshy and hairy.

Uses

Root tubers of ''Flamingia'' species have traditionally been used as food for Aborigines of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. NTFlora Northern Territory Flora online:
''Flora of the Darwin Region: Fabaceae.''
Retrieved 10 June 2018

Species

Some important species include: *'' Flemingia bhutanica'' *'' Flemingia brevipes'' *'' Flemingia chappar'' *'' Flemingia fruticulosa'' *'' Flemingia rhodocarpa'' *'' Flemingia grandiflora'' *'' Flemingia lineata'' *''

Flemingia macrophylla ''Flemingia macrophylla'' a is woody leguminous shrub belonging to the genus '' Flemingia''. It is a multipurpose plant widely used in agriculture, crop improvement, fodder, dyes and for various therapeutic purposes. Perhaps, it is the most ...

'' *'' Flemingia philippinensis'' *'' Flemingia prostrata'' *'' Flemingia semialata'' *'' Flemingia stricta'' *'' Flemingia strobilifera'' *''

Flemingia vestita ''Flemingia vestita'' (synonyms ''Flemingia procumbens'' Roxb.; ''Moghania vestita'' (Benth.) ex Baker Kuntze; ''Moghania procumbens'' (Roxb.) Mukerjee) famously known as ''Sohphlang'' is a nitrogen fixing herb with characteristic tuberous ro ...

References

External links

Classification at Botanica SistematicaPlant Profile at USDA Plant DatabaseITIS ReportTaxonomy at UniProtClassification at Encyclopedia of Life
*
NCBI Taxonomy BrowserPlantillustrations
Phaseoleae Medicinal plants Fabaceae genera {{Phaseoleae-stub