Aeschynomene vigil Brandegee
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Authority
Rudd, Velva E. 1955. The American species of Aeschynomene. Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 32: 1-172.
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Family
Fabaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type locality: San José del Cabo, Baja California, Mexico. Type collected by Brandegee (No. 142), cited below.
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Description
Description - Shrub 1-3 m. tall; stem white-sericeous when young, glabrate, gray-barked with age; stipules about 3-5 mm. long and 1 mm. wide, lanceolate, acuminate, subsericeous; leaves 8-14-foliolate; leaflets elliptic-oblong to obovate, obtuse, 8-15 mm. long, 4-8 mm. wide, subsericeous; inflorescences axillary, fasciculate, few-flowered, the pedicels subsericeous, sometimes also sparsely hispidulous; bracts and bracteoles ovate-lanceolate, acute, 1-2 mm. long, sericeous; flowers 8-10 mm. long; calyx 4-5 mm. long, pubescent; standard 8-10 mm. long, the claw about 2 mm. long, the blade suborbiculate, about 7 mm. long and 6 mm. wide, retuse; wings and keel about as long as the standard, the wing blades 3-5 mm. wide, the keel blades about 1.5 mm. wide; stamens about 9 mm. long; fruit 2- or 3-articulate, the stipe 1-3 mm. long, pubescent, the articles 5-7 mm. long, 5-6 mm. wide, moderately appressed-pubescent, reticulate-veiny; seeds about 5 mm. long and 3 mm. wide, light brown.
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Discussion
Aeschynomene vigil exhibits considerable white-sericeous pubescence, characteristic of Ae. nivea and many other plants of Lower California. Its broader, elliptic-oblong to obovate leaflets with essentially central costae readily distinguish it from Ae. nivea, which has narrow, marginally-costate leaflets. The petals of Ae. vigil tend to discolor to a dark purplish-brown, similar to the color changes that occur in several species of the Pleuronerviae but are not customary in the Scopariae. The short fruit-stipe easily distinguishes this species from others of the series except Ae. rosei, and from that the denser pubescence differentiates it.