Machaerium
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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
Genus Description - Shrubs or lianas. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets alternate; stipules spinescent, persistent, even along main stems; stipels Flowers medium-sized, in axillary or terminal racemes or panicles, the bracts minute; calyx asymmetrically bell-shaped, with 5 minute, unequal teeth at apex; corolla purple to white, the standard rounded to kidney-shaped, shortly clawed, the wings and keel subequal, incurved; stamens 10, monadelphous; ovary shortly stipitate, with 1 or 2 ovules, the style inflexed, the stigma punctiform. Legume flattened, curled, with circular outline; seeds solitary, kidney-shaped.
Distribution and Ecology - A genus of 150 species primarily of tropical America