Lessertia benguellensis Baker

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Mukolo Camp, Kavango River

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Synonyms:	Coluteastrum benguellense (Baker) Hiern Lessertia emarginata Schinz
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Robust shrubby perennial up to 1.5 m high, growing from a woody rootstock. Stems herbaceous, hairless. Leaves 5–13.5 cm long; leaflets 2–9 on each side, opposite or subopposite, linear-oblong or obovate, 6–25 mm, often emarginate, very sparsely white hairy beneath, hairless above; petiole 1–1.5 cm long, with very sparse white hairs; stipules lanceolate, 1–3 mm long, with white stiff hairs at the margins. Racemes up to 4 cm long, 3–many-flowered; peduncle 3–8 mm long; bracts ovate-lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm long, with stiff white hairs at the margins. Calyx 2.5–3 mm long, divided halfway into 5 equal teeth, with stiff hairs at the margins. Corolla yellow-greenish with the standard and wings streaked with purple-violet-bluish. Pod ovate or obliquely elliptic, sometimes with the dorsal suture arched, 1.5–4 cm long and 1–2 cm high, abruptly tapering at the base into a 2–3 mm long stipe, membranaceous, translucent, brownish, hairless. Seeds 1-7.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	benguellensis: after the Benguella region of Angola
Habitat:	On Kalahari Sand in thickets and dry open woodland, often on floodplains and river banks.
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Tuesday 9 July 2019
Literature:	Drummond, R.B. (1972). A list of Rhodesian Legumes. Kirkia 8(2) Page 223. as Lessertia emarginata Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 171. (Includes a picture). Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 49. Martins, E.S. et al. (2003). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(7) Pages 15 - 17. (Includes a picture). Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 62. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 68.

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Flora of Botswana: Lessertia benguellensis
Flora of Zambia: Lessertia benguellensis
Flora of Zimbabwe: Lessertia benguellensis

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Lessertia benguellensis
African Plant Database: Lessertia benguellensis
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Lessertia benguellensis
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Lessertia benguellensis
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Lessertia benguellensis
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Lessertia benguellensis
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Lessertia benguellensis
JSTOR Plant Science: Lessertia benguellensis
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Lessertia benguellensis
Plants of the World Online: Lessertia benguellensis
Tropicos: Lessertia benguellensis
Wikipedia: Lessertia benguellensis