Sphenostylis briartii (De Wild.) Baker f.

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Picture: Petra Ballings
Chelinda staff camp, Nyika National Park

Picture: Bart Wursten
Chelinda staff camp, Nyika National Park

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Synonyms:	Sphenostylis wildemaniana Baker f. Vigna briartii De Wild. Vigna homblei De Wild. Vigna matengoana Harms
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Perennial trailing or climbing herb up to 1 m long. Stems slender, branched, hairless or sparsely puberulous. Leaflets ovate-elliptic, elliptic or lanceolate, 1.1–5.5 cm long, hairless on both surfaces or sparsely puberulous beneath; petioles 0.6–4 cm long; stipules oblong-lanceolate, 1.3–3.1 mm long. Inflorescences 1–3-flowered on peduncles up to 7 cm long; bracts and bracteoles persistent, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 1.5–3 mm long. Calyx hairless or sparsely puberulous; tube 2.3–5.5 mm long; lower lobes triangular, 0.7–3 mm long; upper pair joined to form a bifid lip. Standard rounded to squarish, emarginate, pale pink or maroon outside, pinkish-mauve inside, purple at the base or with a violet-edged white zone; wings pinkish-mauve; keel pinkish-mauve, white along the lower margin. Pods linear, 3.3–4.6 cm long, pointed, hairless or minutely puberulous along the thickened margins.
Type location:	Syntypesfrom DRC, Katanga
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:
Habitat:	High rainfall Brachystegia woodland and grassland, often in moist ground and by swampy riversides.
Altitude range:	780 - 1800 m
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Angola, DRC, southern Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia.
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca):	N,W
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	Nw,N
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:	Wednesday 4 March 2020
Literature:	Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 169. Mackinder, B. et al. (2001). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(5) Page 73. Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 65.

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Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Sphenostylis briartii
Flora of Malawi: Sphenostylis briartii

External websites:

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