Calpurnia is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s within the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. It includes six species which range through eastern, central, and southern Africa and in southern India. The genus comprises

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s or small trees in or along the margin of forests in the eastern parts of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. They shed leaves in winter unless in moist areas, where they are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

. They make good garden plants because they are easily raised from seed, flower at two years and withstand

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

. The

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

''Calpurnia aurea'' is also known as Wild Laburnum or Wildegeelkeur (in

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

). The bright yellow flowers have the typical form of the Fabaceae (

pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...

family). They are borne in

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s and flowering can take place over several months. The flowers are visited by

carpenter bee Carpenter bees are species in the genus ''Xylocopa'' of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant m ...

s, after which the pollinated flowers turn into thin, straw-colored pods.

Species

''Calpurnia'' comprises the following species: * '' Calpurnia aurea'' (Aiton) Benth. – Sudan to Angola and South Africa; southern India ** subsp. ''aurea'' (Aiton) Benth. ** subsp. ''indica'' Brummitt * ''

Calpurnia glabrata Calpurnia may refer to: Ancient Rome * Calpurnia gens, an ancient Roman family **Calpurnia (wife of Caesar), last wife of Roman dictator Julius Caesar **Calpurnia (wife of Pliny), third and last wife of Pliny the Younger and granddaughter of Calpu ...

'' Brummitt – South Africa *'' Calpurnia intrusa'' – South Africa * '' Calpurnia reflexa'' A.J.Beaumont – South Africa * '' Calpurnia sericea'' Harv. – South Africa and Lesotho * '' Calpurnia woodii'' Schinz – KwaZulu-Natal

References

* * Podalyrieae Fabaceae genera {{Faboideae-stub