Rhynchosia monophylla Schltr.

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Picture: Bart Wursten
Vumba rd before Bunga Forest

Picture: Bart Wursten
Plateau below Nhandore peak, Mt Gorongosa

Picture: Bart Wursten
Slopes of Mt Pheza, Chimanimani Mts

Picture: Bart Wursten
Plateau between Mutandani and Muvumodzi Rivers, eastern Chimanimani Mts.

Picture: Bart Wursten
Ridge on Mt Shangani, eastern Chimanimani Mts.

Mutinondo Wilderness Area
Apr 2013
Photo: Lari Merret

Picture: Bart Wursten
Along path to Mt Binga before "Mosquito Camp", Chimanimani National Reserve

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Synonyms:	Rhynchosia monophylla Schltr. var. eylesii Baker f. Rhynchosia prostrata Suess. Rhynchosia reptans Suess.
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Perennial trailing herb 8–60 cm (2 m) long, from a woody rootstock up to 20 × c. 1 cm. Stems pubescent with short spreading hairs and yellowish glandular hairs on the young parts. Leaflets 1–3, 0.5–9 × 0.3–6.5 cm, the leaves on the flowering branchlets 1-foliolate even when main leaves are 3-foliolate; 1-foliolate leaves with lamina round-elliptic or ovate, acute or acuminate at the apex, cordate or truncate at the base; petiole 0.3–2.5 cm long; 3-foliolate leaves with terminal leaflet 2–7.3 × 1.8–5.8 cm, round or ovate, acute, cordate, the lateral leaflets 1–5.7 × 0.5–3.7 cm; petiole shorter than the rhachis, 2–12 mm long; rhachis 5–20 mm long; petiolules 1–2 mm long; all leaflets pubescent on both surfaces or on the nerves only beneath, gland-dotted beneath, venation prominent beneath, often reddish; margins sometimes slightly undulate (see note); stipules 4–11 mm long, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, prominently veined, pubescent. Flowers solitary or in 2–3-flowered cymes in the axils of 1-foliolate leaves; pedicels 4–20 mm long. Calyx pubescent and with some yellowish glandular hairs; tube 2–3 mm long; lobes 7–9 mm long, narrowly triangular to linear, the lowest the longest, the laterals 3–5 mm long, the upper pair joined for ± one-third their length. Standard deep yellow with reddish flush outside and red veins inside, 13 × 8.5 mm, obovate, glabrous; wings bright pink; keel whitish, tinged purple at the apex. Pods 9–15 × 7–8.5 mm, oblong or squarish, or if only 1-seeded then obliquely elliptic, 8 × 6.5 mm, net-veined, pubescent. Seeds pinkish or reddish-brown speckled with black, or dark purple, 3–4.5 × 3–3.5 × 1.5–2 mm, oblong-reniform or squarish, ± keeled and irregularly compressed so that the faces are coarsely rugose, with a pale buff or yellowish cap-like arillar appendage (not included in the measurements). (from FZ, emphasis added)
Type location:	South Africa
Notes:	Red data list status: Widespread: Least concern, not threatened
Derivation of specific name:	monophylla: “1-leaf”, unifoliolate – leaves of single leaflets
Habitat:	Montane, dambo and open grasslands, and in miombo, Brachystegia–Syzygium and chipya woodlands, in sandy stony soils and on granite slopes and limestone hills; conspicuous after burns.
Altitude range:	1050 - 1750 m
Flowering time:	(Jan-) Sep - Dec
Worldwide distribution:	Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe; also Tanzania, South Africa, Eswatini.
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca):	N,W,C
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	Cb,Mc,C,Lk
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 23 August 2017
Literature:	Drummond, R.B. (1972). A list of Rhodesian Legumes. Kirkia 8(2) Page 226. Mackinder, B. et al. (2001). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(5) Pages 209 - 210. 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 51. Verdcourt, B. (2001). Papilionoideae: Tribe Phaseoleae Flora Zambesiaca 3(5) Pages 225 - 226. Wursten, B., Timberlake, J. & Darbyshire, I. (2017). The Chimanimani Mountains: an updated checklist. Kirkia 19(1) Page 94.

Other sources of information about Rhynchosia monophylla:

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Flora of Malawi: Rhynchosia monophylla
Flora of Mozambique: Rhynchosia monophylla
Flora of Zimbabwe: Rhynchosia monophylla

External websites:

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