Volume 4 > Part 3.3 > Year 2023 > Page 520 > Leguminosae-Papilionoideae > Centrosema

2. Centrosema pascuorum Mart. ex Benth.wfo-0000165564

Commentat. Legum. Gen.: 56. 1837; Ann. Wiener Mus. Naturgesch. 2: 120. 839. 1839.— Bradburya pascuorum (Mart. ex Benth.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 164. 1891. Fig. 7.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Herb; stems slender, twining, trailing or erect, all vegetative and some reproductive parts (peduncle, inflorescence axis, bract, pedicel, bracteole, calyx, corolla, ovary and pod) with pilose and uncinated hairs. Stipules thin, ovate, 5–9 by 2–3 mm, apex attenuate or acuminate, base truncate, margin entire. Leaves: petioles 2–6 cm long; rachis 0.7–1.8 cm long. Leaflets: petiolules 1.5–3 mm long; blade lanceolate, linear or narrowly ovate, 4.5–14 by 0.3–1.8 cm, apex acute or attenuate and apiculate, base cuneate or obtuse, margin entire, both surfaces and along margin slightly hairs; lateral veins 12–17 pairs; stipels subulate, 4–8 by 0.5–1 mm, striate, apex acuminate, base truncate, margin entire. Inflorescences 1–2-fascicled, pseudoracemose, rarely paniculate; peduncles 0.8–3 cm long; axis ca 1 mm long; bracts 2, broadly ovate, 1.5–2.5 by 1–1.5 mm, striate, apex acute, base truncate. Flowers dark purple; pedicels 4–6 mm long; bracteole attached to base of pedicel suborbicular, 2–3.5 by 2–4 mm, striate, apex acute, base truncate, persistent; bracteoles appressed to base of calyx tube ovate, 3.5–6 by 1.5–3.5 mm, striate, apex acute, base truncate or obtuse. Calyx: tube 3–3.5 by 3–4 mm; lobes lanceolate; two upper lobes ca 3 by 1 mm, apex acute; three lower lobes 4–5 by 1–1.5 mm; the lowest of lower lobes slightly longer than the others, apex acuminate or acute, sparsely hairs along margin. Corolla outside sparsely to densely hairs and along margin; standard purple with white lines at centre inside, suborbicular, 1–1.5 by 1–1.7 cm, apex emarginate, claw 1–2.5 mm long; wings purple, oblong, 1–1.5 by 0.3–0.4 cm, apex obtuse or rounded, base with 1 appendage, elliptic, ca 1.5 by 1 mm, claw 1.5–2.5 mm long; keel purple, boat-shaped, 1.2–1.4 by 0.7–0.8 cm, apex rounded, base with 1 small appendage, ca 1 mm long, claw ca 3 mm long. Stamens: filaments white, 1.2–1.6 cm long; vexillary filament shorter than the others; anthers suborbicular, ca 0.5 by 0.5 mm. Ovary linear; stigma hairy. Pods linear, 6–8 by 0.3–0.4 cm, apical beak 0.5–1 cm long, base shortly stipitate; young pods slightly hairy, mature pods glabrous or glabrescent; fruit stalk 4–6 mm long. Seeds 8–11, light brown, slightly compressed, ellipsoid or oblong, 4–5 by 2.5–3 mm.

Thailand : Cultivated in North-Eastern, Eastern, Central and Southern provinces.

Distribution : Native to Mexico, Central America, Ecuador, Brazil (type).

Vernacular : Thua cavalcade (ถั่วคาวาลเคด).

CommonName : Cavalcade, Centurion.

Uses: For forage.