Rhynchosia

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Fabaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Rhynchosia

  • Description

    Genus Description - Twining or trailing herbaceous to woody vines. Leaves trifoliolate, lower surface with yellow, resinous dots; stipules deciduous; stipels minute. Flowers small, in axillary pseudoracemes, the bracts minute, persistent or deciduous; calyx bell-shaped, with 4-5 elongate sepals; corolla yellow, the standard obovate to rounded, slightly notched at apex, clawed and auriculate at base, the wings clawed, spurred, the keel slightly longer than the wings; stamens 10, monadelphous or diadelphous; ovary shortly stipitate, with few ovules, the style glabrous, incurved, the stigma capitate. Legume oblong, flattened, beaked at apex, usually dehiscent by twisting valves; seeds few to many, flattened, rounded to elliptic.

    Distribution and Ecology - A genus of 200 species with pantropical distribution