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This species is accepted, and its native range is Ethiopia to S. Tropical Africa.

[FZ]

Leguminosae, various authors. Flora Zambesiaca 3:7. 2003

Habit
Subshrub up to 50 cm tall from a woody rootstock.
Stem
Stems erect, ascending or prostrate and up to 1(2) m long and up to 3 mm in diameter, woody below, pilose with ± dense white spreading hairs up to 1 mm long, the epidermis dark purple when dry.
Leaves
Leaves very variable in size, only the leaf base and rhachis persisting on older branches; basal leaflets asymmetrical, up to 15 × 8 mm, rhombic with the basal angle usually 70–90º; lateral and apical leaflets up to 18 × 7 mm, the apical one a little longer than the lateral ones, cuneate-obovate; all leaflets with margins revolute, pilose on upper and lower surfaces with spreading hairs up to 1.5(3) mm long, or subglabrous but with some hairs on the midrib and margins, subcoriaceous, densely marked with purple dots on upper surface and purple dots or wavy lines beneath; rhachis 1.5–2.5(?6) mm long, usually less than half the length of the basal leaflets; stipular glands purple, minute.
Inflorescences
Umbels 2–5-flowered; peduncle 0.5–4 cm long, pubescent; foliage leaf on the peduncle usually 3-foliolate; pedicels 1–2 mm long, pubescent.
Calyx
Calyx reddish, with ± sparse, spreading hairs up to 1.5 mm long; hypanthium c. 1.5 mm long; calyx tube c. 2 mm above the insertion of the stamens; calyx lobes 2.5–3.5 × 1.2–1.5 mm, triangular-acuminate.
Corolla
Corolla white or cream, the standard streaked with red and, at least when dry, the tip of the keel reddish or purplish; standard 8.5–10 × 4–5.5 mm, slightly violin-shaped, wedge-shaped at the base, retuse; wings 8.5–9 mm long including the 3 mm long claw, the blade oblong, laterally pouched, auriculate, the auricles of both wings often adhering to each other; keel c. 10 mm long including claws 3–3.5 mm long, curved, pointed.
Filaments
Filament sheath c. 6 mm long, often papillose near the base; free parts of the shorter filaments c. 2 mm long, those of the longer filaments c. 3 mm long.
Pistil
Ovary c. 7 mm long, glabrous, c. 26-ovulate; style 4 mm long, slightly curved upwards.
Fruits
Pod brownish-red, up to 25 × 2.2 mm, terete.
Seeds
Seeds 16 or less, c. 1.1 mm long, ovoid.

[ILDIS]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Afromontane(upland) bushland and thicket., Afromontane grassland
Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Herb

[FTEA]

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Habit
Perennial; rootstock massive, woody; stems prostrate, ascending or bushy, up to 3 mm. in diameter, and up to 1(–2) m. in height, the epidermis a dark purple or blackish-red when dry, often obscured by dense white or slightly fulvous spreading hairs up to 1 mm. long; internodes on the side branches often very short (under 5 mm.).
Leaves
Leaves very variable in size, on old stunted shoots ± 4 mm. overall, including a rhachis of 1 mm., on young vigorous shoots up to 27 mm., including a rhachis of 6 mm.; rhachis nearly always less than half as long as basal leaflets, these usually quite different in shape from the apical leaflets, usually asymmetrically oblong with the midrib running diagonally from corner to corner, basal angle commonly 70°–80°; apical leaflets cuneate-obovate, 1·5–2·5 times as long as wide; indumentum on leaves variable, but ± spreading hairs, up to ± 1 mm. long, are usually frequent, at least on the margins and lower midrib, sometimes very sparse on the lamina.
Inflorescences
Umbels 1–6-flowered; peduncle pubescent, 0·5–4 cm., rarely up to 8 cm. long.
Bracts
Bract nearly always 3-foliolate, the parts ± oblong; pedicels densely pubescent, 1–1·5 mm. long.
Calyx
Calyx reddish, ± pubescent with spreading hairs, the tube ± 2 mm. long below the insertion of the stamens, ± 3 mm. above; teeth triangular-acuminate, ± 3 mm. long.
Corolla
Corolla white, with purplish, red or pink markings; standard emarginate, ± 9 by 5 mm.; wings ± 11 mm. long including a claw of 4 mm.
Filaments
Filament-sheath ± 5 mm. long, sometimes papillose near the base, free parts 2 and 3 mm. long.
Pistil
Ovary ± 7 mm. long, ± 26-ovulate; style slightly curved upwards, ± 4 mm. long.
Fruits
Fruit up to 2·5 cm. long but often shorter, ± 16-or fewer seeded.
Figures
Fig. 146/1–12, p. 1046.
Habitat
Upland grassland, especially in scrub or at forest edges; 1500–3700 m., rarely below 2000 m.; rainfall over 1000 mm.
Distribution
K1 K3 K4 K6 T2 T7 U1 U3 also Angola (fide Torre in C.F.A. 3: 81 (1962)specimen not seen)

Native to:

Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda

Lotus goetzei Harms appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Apr 8, 1954 Volkens, G. [1487], Tanzania K000226746 Unknown type material
Apr 8, 1954 Volkens, G. [2011], Tanzania K000226747 Unknown type material
Goetze, W. [1044], Tanzania K000226748 isotype

First published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 30: 324 (1901)

Accepted by

  • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Pope, G.V., Polhill, R.N. & Martins, E.S. (eds.) (2003). Flora Zambesiaca 3(7): 1-274. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Lock, J.M. (1989). Legumes of Africa a check-list: 1-619. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Pope, G.V., Polhill, R.N. & Martins, E.S. (eds.) (2003). Flora Zambesiaca 3(7): 1-274. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Gillett in Kew Bulletin 13: 369 (1958).
  • J.P.M. Brenan, Check-lists of the Forest Trees and Shrubs of the British Empire no. 5, part II, Tanganyika Territory p. 431 (1949).
  • Harms in A. Engler, Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 30: 324 (1901).

International Legume Database and Information Service

  • Gillett, J. B. et al. (1971). Papilionoideae. In: Fl. Trop. E. Africa, Milne-Redhead & Polhill

Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

International Legume Database and Information Service
International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0