Leaves bipinnate; a gland often present at the junction of the lowest pair of pinnae; pinnae each with several to many pairs of small leaflets; stipules setaceous, persistent
Flowers in ovate-globose heads, all bisexual or lower neuter and sometimes without petals but with short staminodes
Calyx campanulate, shortly 5-dentate
Petals 5, free or cohering slightly
Stamens 10 or 5, free, exserted; anthers eglandular apically
Ovary subsessile; style subulate or thickened above; stigma terminal
Pods linear, straight or ± falcate, compressed, dehiscing into 2 valves, continuous within or subseptate between seeds
Seeds lying lengthwise or obliquely in the pod, compressed
x = 7, 11 (aneuploids)
Nomenclature:
*Desmanthus Willd.
Willdenow: 1044 (1806) name conserved
Hutchinson: 281 (1964)
Ross: 120 (1975)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 22, mainly in the tropics and subtropics of the New World
Southern Africa: Species 1: *Desmanthus virgatus (L.) Willd., has become naturalised in KwaZulu-Natal near Pietermaritzburg
References:
HUTCHINSON, J. 1964. Order LEGUMINALES. The genera of flowering plants 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford
ROSS, J.H. 1975. Fabaceae. Mimosoideae. Flora of southern Africa 16,1
WILLDENOW, C.L. VON. 1806. Caroli a Linné. Species Plantarum 4,2. Nauk, Berlin
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Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
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In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
