FABACEAE: CROTALARIEAE [Draft]
LOTONONIS (de Candolle) Ecklon & Zeyher, Enum. Pl. Afr. Austral. 176. 1836, nom. cons.
Chinese Pinyin
Wei Zhi[1]; ??
Ononis Linnaeus sect. Lotononis de Candolle, Prodr 2: 166. 1825.
Herbs [or shrublets]. Stipules free. Leaves digitally 3-foliolate. Inflorescences umbellate [or racemose], leaf-opposed, long pedunculate. Calyx cuplike, abaxial most tooth narrow triangular and longest, other 4 teeth ± connect in pairs. Corolla glabrous. Stamens 10, connate into a sheath; anthers dimorphic, 4 longer and basifixed, 6 shorter and dorsifixed. Ovary sessile, with numerous ovules. Style incurved; stigma terminal. Seeds without a caruncle; funiculus filiform.
About 100 species: Africa, S Europe, S Asia; one species introduced in China.
1. Lotononis bainesii Baker, Fl. Trop. Afr. 2: 6. 1871.
Chinese Pinyin
Herbs, perennial, 0.3--1.8 m tall. Stems slender, decumbent, branching and rooting at nodes, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. Stipules ovate, 4--10 mm, base auriculate, apex acute. Leaves 3-foliolate, apical one larger; petiole 6--7.5 mm; leaflet blades linear-elliptic to lanceolate, 1.5--4 X 0.6--1 cm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent, base cuneate, apex rounded and mucronate. Inflorescences umbellate heads, 8--12 flowered; bracts and bracteoles minute, inconspicuous; peduncle to 25 cm. Flowers 1--3 cm, sessile. Calyx 3--4 mm. Corolla bright yellow, ca. 1 cm; standard orbicular to oblong, long clawed; wings obliquely ovate to oblong; keels incurved and obtuse, longer than standard. Legume linear, 7--12 X 2--3 mm, white villous, with a curved beak. Seeds small.
Cultivated in Taiwan [native to S Africa].
Grown for fodder.
[1] Herbarium, Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, 10 Jiaogong Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310012, People’s Republic of China.