Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Fabaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Herbaceous to subwoody twining vine to 5 m long. Leaves trifoliolate; leaflets 5-16 X 4.5-12 cm, broadly ovate to rhomboid, chartaceous, pubescent especially along veins, the apex acute to acuminate, the base cuneate or truncate, unequal on lateral leaflets, the margins entire, ciliate; petiolules swollen, pubescent; stipules lanceolate, to 5 mm long, persistent; stipels awl-shaped, minute. Pseudoracemes axillary, erect, few-flowered, to 25 cm long, the flowers 2 or 3 at swollen nodes; bracts minute, persistent. Calyx bell-shaped, 6-7 mm long, with 4-5 unequal sepals; corolla white or purple, the standard 1.4-2 cm long, rounded, the wings obovate, the keel incurved; stamens diadelphous; ovary flattened, the style curved, the stigma terminal. Legume 5-10 x 2-3 cm, nearly oblong, widened at apex, flattened, the upper suture warty, beaked at apex, tardily dehiscent through both sutures. Seeds 3- 5, to 1 cm long, ovate to elliptic, slightly flattened, tan or light brown, with a linear white funicular remnant.
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Discussion
Common name: bona wiss.
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Distribution
An occasional roadside weed. Cruz Bay Quarter along Center Line Road (A2899, A2908). Native to Africa, now naturalized throughout the tropics.
Africa|