Millettia pinnata seed and pods.jpg

''Millettia'' is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. It consists of about 150 species, which are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The genus was formerly known by the name ''Pongamia'', but that name was rejected in favor of the name ''Millettia'', and many species have been reclassified.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - Proposal No. 549
/ref> Due to recent interest in biofuels, ''Pongamia'' is often the generic name used when referring to ''Millettia pinnata'', a tree being explored for producing biodiesel.

Description

In 1834, in ''Prodromus Florae Peninsulae Indiae Orientalis'' Robert Wight and George Arnott Walker-Arnott describe ''Millettia'' as:

Calyx cup-shaped, lobed or slightly toothed. Corolla papilionaceous: vexillum recurved, broad, emarginate, glabrous or silky on the back. Stamens diadelphous (9 and 1), the tenth quite distinct. Legume flat, elliptic or lanceolate, pointed, coriaceous, thick margined, wingless indehiscent, 1-2 seeded: valves closely cohering with each other all round the seeds and between them. Twining or arboreous. Leaves very large, unequally pinnated: leaflets opposite, with a setaceous partial stipule at the base of each partial petiole. Racemes axillary, more or less branched and compound. Flowers pretty large, purplish, pedicelled on shortish diverging partial peduncles.

Etymology

Long known to residents of the Indies, China, and Africa, this species has had many traditional names. One of the oldest references in traditional Chinese medicine is in '' Bencao Gangmu Shiyi'' ("Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica") where is called jixueteng. The Chinese name literally translates to "stem of chicken's blood" which refers to the red resin present in the stems of several climbing legume shrubs.

In the 1820s-1830s Charles Millett, a plant collector and an official with the East India Company, collected many samples of Millettia while living in Canton and Macao. He sent them to the University of Glasgow's Botanical Garden. In 1834, Robert Wight and George Arnott Walker-Arnott, both Scottish botanists, published ''Prodromus Florae Peninsulae Indiae Orientalis'' where the genus Millettia is first mentioned. The authors named the genus after Charles Millett, incorrectly referring to him as Dr. Charles Millett. Charles Millett of the East India Company has often been confused with Charles Millet, a French ichthyologist, who was active around the same time. In addition J. A. Millet, a French botanist from the 18th century, is often misattributed as the source.

Robert Sweet states that the genus ''Pongamia'' comes from the Malabar region in India and is derived from the local word Pongam (most likely from the Malayalam language). ''Pongamia'' had often been misattributed to Vent. (1803), but it was preceded by "Pongam Adans. (1763)", "Galedupa Lam. (1788)", and "Pungamia Lam. (1796)" and in accordance with the 1994 Tokyo Code of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the correct citation was established as "Pongamia Adans. (1763)". In 1981 a proposal to conserve the genus ''Millettia'' and reject the genus ''Pongamia'' was proposed in the journal Taxon and was ratified in 1988.

Uses

The species ''Millettia pinnata'' has been investigated for use as biofuel.

Species formerly in the genus

*''Pongamia ovalifolia'' is a synonym for ''Millettia peguensis''
*''Pongamia uliginosa'' is a synonym for ''Derris trifoliata''

Species

Selected species include:

* '' Millettia aurea''
* '' Millettia australis'' - Samson's sinew (Norfolk Island)
* ''Millettia brandisiana''
* '' Millettia bussei''
* '' Millettia capuronii''
* '' Millettia conraui''
* '' Millettia decipiens''
* '' Millettia diptera'' Gagnep.
* ''Millettia duchesnei''
* '' Millettia elongistyla''
* '' Millettia eriocarpa''
* '' Millettia galliflagrans''
* ''Millettia grandis'' – Umzimbeet
* '' Millettia hitsika''
* '' Millettia lacus-alberti''
* ''Millettia laurentii'' – Wengé
* '' Millettia leucantha''
* '' Millettia macrophylla''
* '' Millettia micans''
* '' Millettia mossambicensis''
* '' Millettia nathaliae''
* '' Millettia nigrescens'' Gagnep.
* '' Millettia nitida''
* '' Millettia orientalis''
* '' Millettia pachycarpa''
* ''Millettia peguensis''
* ''Millettia pinnata''
* '' Millettia psilopetela''
* '' Millettia pterocarpa''
* '' Millettia pubinervis'' Kurz
* '' Millettia puerarioides'' Prain
* '' Millettia richardiana''
* '' Millettia rhodantha''
* '' Millettia sacleuxii''
* '' Millettia schliebenii''
* '' Millettia semsei''
* '' Millettia sericantha''
* ''Millettia stuhlmannii'' – Panga panga
* '' Millettia sutherlandii''
* '' Millettia taolanaroensis''
* '' Millettia thonningii''
* '' Millettia unifoliata''
* '' Millettia usaramensis'' – Lesser millettia
* '' Millettia utilis''
* '' Millettia warneckei''

References

* PlantListbr>search for millettia
Retrieved 20210327.

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2628493

Fabaceae genera
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot