Compilation
Vigna abyssinica

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Name

Identification
Vigna abyssinica Taub. [family LEGUMINOSAE ] Vigna ambacensis Welw. ex Baker [family LEGUMINOSAE ] (stored under name);
Related name
  • Vigna luteola
  • Vigna abyssinica
  • Vigna ambacensis

Flora

Entry for Vigna heterophylla A. Rich. [family LEGUMINOSAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora Zambesiaca
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
FZ, Vol 3, Part 5, (2001) Author: B. Mackinder, R. Pasquet, R. Polhill and B. Verdcourt
Names
Vigna heterophylla A. Rich. [family LEGUMINOSAE], Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 218 (1847). —J.G. Baker in F.T.A. 2: 197 (1871). —E.G. Baker, Legum. Trop. Africa: 410 (1929). —Verdcourt in F.T.E.A., Leguminosae, Pap.: 631 (1971). —Maréchal, Mascherpa & Stainier in Boissiera 28: 172 (1978). —Lock, Leg. Afr. Check-list: 442 (1989). Type from Ethiopia.
Vigna ambacensis Welw. ex Baker [family LEGUMINOSAE], in F.T.A. 2: 201 (1871). —E.G. Baker, Legum. Trop. Africa: 400 (1929). —Torre in C.F.A. 3: 266 (1966). Type from Angola.
Vigna ambacensis [family LEGUMINOSAE], sensu Lock, Leg. Afr. Check-list: 440 (1989) pro minore parte quoad cit. ex Malawi, non Baker.
Vigna ambacensis [family LEGUMINOSAE], sensu Wilczek in F.C.B. 6: 355 (1954) pro parte excl. yellow flowered specimens. —sensu Verdcourt in F.T.E.A., Leguminosae, Pap.: 632 (1971) pro parte. —sensu Maréchal, Mascherpa & Stainier in Boissiera 28: 171 (1978) pro parte.
Vigna luteola var. villosa [family LEGUMINOSAE], sensu J.G.Baker in F.T.A. 2: 205 (1871) pro parte non Vigna villosa Savi.
Vigna abyssinica Taub. [family LEGUMINOSAE], in Engl., Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr. (Abh. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. 1891-2): 267 (1892). —E.G. Baker, Legum. Trop. Afr.: 403 (1929). Type from Ethiopia.
Vigna glabra var. villosa [family LEGUMINOSAE], sensu Hiern., Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. 1: 260 (1896) non Vigna villosa Savi.
Vigna stuhlmannii Harms [family LEGUMINOSAE], in Engl., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 30: 94 (1901). —E.G. Baker, Legum. Trop. Afr.: 402 (1929). Type from Dem. Rep. Congo.
Vigna micrantha Chiov. [family LEGUMINOSAE], in Ann. Bot. (Rome) 9: 59 (1911) non Harms, nom. illegit. Type from Ethiopia.
Vigna abyssinica var. ugandensis Baker f. [family LEGUMINOSAE], in J. Bot. 62: 333 (1924); Legum. Trop. Africa: 403 (1929). Type from Uganda.
Vigna chiovendae Baker f. [family LEGUMINOSAE], Legum. Trop. Africa: 402 (1929). Type from Ethiopia.
Vigna congoensis Bak. f. [family LEGUMINOSAE], Rev. Zool. & Bot. Afr. 21: 303 (1932). Type from Dem. Rep. Congo.
Vigna heterophylla var. lanceolata R. Wilczek [family LEGUMINOSAE], in Bull. Jard. Bot. État 24: 440 (1954); in F.C.B. 6: 376 (1954). Type from Dem. Rep. Congo.
Vigna ambacensis var. ambacensis Maréchal, Mascherpa & Stainier [family LEGUMINOSAE], in Boissiera 28: 171 (1978).
Information
Annual or perennial climbing, or rarely suberect, herb, 0.9–7 m long. Stem pubescent, covered with spreading often dark ferruginous hairs 0.5–2 mm long. Leaflets 3, 4.5–15 × 1–5 cm, oblong or ovate-lanceolate or ovate-oblong to linear-lanceolate, narrowly rounded to acuminate and apiculate at the apex, rounded or subcordate at the base, sparsely to densely pubescent on both surfaces; petiole 4–6 cm long; rhachis 0.7–1.5 cm long; stipules 2–4 × 1–1.5 mm, ovate-lanceolate, bilobed at the base, multinerved. Peduncle 5–15 cm × 0.5–1.5 mm, pubescent; rhachis 0.7–2 cm long, 4–6-noded, internodes 1–4 mm long. Flower blue to mauve and violet, 11–14 × 12–15 mm; pedicel 1–4 mm long, expanding as the pod matures; bracteoles 1.5–5 mm long, ovate-lanceolate, multinerved, rarely 1- or 3-nerved. Calyx pubescent; tube 1.5–2.5 mm long; lobes 1–4 mm long, deltate, the lower as long as the laterals, the upper pair united to form an entire or slightly bifid lobe. Standard pubescent or velvety outside with appressed hairs, with two U-shaped appendages inside; keel slightly twisted towards the right, with a short beak. Ovary 6–10-ovuled. Pod 3.5–4.5 cm × 4–5 mm, linear-cylindrical, S-shaped, slightly pubescent to densely covered with spreading, dark ferruginous bristly hairs, with a short curved beak. Seed 4–5.5 × 2–3.5 × c. 2 mm; hilum excentric; aril very excentric.
Habitat
Grassland, sometimes by streams and in marshes
Range
Northward to Cameroon, Uganda, Ethiopia, eastward to Kenya and Tanzania
Altitude range
750–2100 m.
2100
750
Distribution
Malawi S Mwanza Distr., Kirk Range, on road alongMalawi C Bunda College of Agriculture, 27 km south of Lilongwe, 1140 m, fl. & fr. 30.v.1970, Staples 553 (SRGH).Mozambique border above Matandani Mission, 1600 m, fl. & fr. 22.vii.1970, Brummitt, Banda & Moriarty 12192 (K; SRGH).Malawi N Nkhata Bay Distr., Roseveare's, 1250 m, fl. 4.ix.1977, Pawek 12970 (K).Zambia N Mbala Distr., track to Kara Village, near Kawimbe, 1680 m, fl. 4.v.1957, Richards 9547 (K).
Notes
While V. ambacensis var. ambacensis and V. heterophylla are synonymous the status of V. ambacensis var. pubigera Maréchal, Mascherpa & Stainier remains unclear.

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