''Eriosema'' is a genus of
legume in the family
Fabaceae.
Accepted species number over 150. The genus is widespread in tropics.
Description
Species of ''Eriosema'' are mostly
herbs or shrublets. Leaves are
pinnately 3-foliolate, rarely reduced to a single leaflet. Inflorescences are 1–2-flowered or
pedunculate 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 ...
in the leaf
axils, yellow to orange, calyx is campanulate, consists of five similar lobes.
Pods are short and flattened with two seeds.
Selected species
* ''
Eriosema campestre''
Benth. — Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil
* ''
Eriosema chinense''
Vogel — South-East Asia, East Himalaya, India, New Guinea, Australia
* ''
Eriosema defoliatum''
Benth. — Brazil
* ''
Eriosema glabrum''
Mart. ex Benth. — Argentina, Brazil
* ''
Eriosema glaziovii''
Harms — Brazil
* ''
Eriosema harmsianum''
Dinter — Namibia
* ''
Eriosema kraussianum''
Meisn.
Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist.
Biography
Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...
— South Africa
* ''
Eriosema longifolium''
Benth. — Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay
* ''
Eriosema salignum''
E.Mey. — South Africa
* ''
Eriosema stenophyllum''
Harms — Brazil
File:Eriosema umtamvunense 1DS-II 9822.jpg, Eriosema umtamvunense in Umtamvuna Nature Reserve
File:Flickr - João de Deus Medeiros - Eriosema longifolium.jpg, ''Eriosema longifolium'' in Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park
File:Eriosema 2017 10 25 2204.jpg, ''Eriosema kraussianum'' in KwaZulu-Natal
File:Eriosema salignum 1DS-II 1893.jpg, ''Eriosema salignum'' in fruit in South Africa.
Uses
Root tubers of ''Eriosema'' species have been traditional food for
Aborigines of the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
.
[NTFlora Northern Territory Flora online:]
''Flora of the Darwin Region: Fabaceae.''
Retrieved 10 June 2018
References
Phaseoleae
Fabaceae genera
Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Phaseoleae-stub