''Entada burkei'' (synonym ''Elephantorrhiza burkei''), commonly known as the elephant root or sumach bean, is a deciduous

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 ...

or small tree in the mimosoid clade of

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

s. It is native to southern Africa, in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and the Northern Provinces of South Africa. It grows on rocky slopes or ridges, in either woodland, grassland or scrubland. The species is named after the botanist Joseph Burke.

Description

The shrub or small tree has a dense rounded crown, and usually reaches between 1 and 3 metres in height. The grey bark turns brown and eventually blackish as the tree ages. The bipinnately compound leaves measure some 25 cm long, and bear 4 to 8 pinnae with 12 to 23 pairs of leaflets each. Their fragrant, creamy white to yellow flowers appear in early summer, and are pollinated mainly by the African honeybee. Mature specimens carry their flowering racemes on branched stems some distance from the ground, and the pods are consequently conspicuous. The flower spikes grow from the leaf axils and are 5 to 10 cm long. Their elongate, flattened, brown to reddish brown pods measure up to 30 cm by 4 cm. The shape of their seeds is variable, from elliptic to almost quadrate.

Similar species

It is most similar to '' E. elephantina'', which has similar aerial parts, but consistently larger seeds.cf. Bothalia 11:252 (1974) Mature specimens of ''E. burkei'' especially, produce their flowering racemes on their branched stems, and the pods consequently appear in conspicuous positions some distance above ground. Seed shape varies considerably in ''E. burkei'', from elliptic to nearly quadrate when tightly compacted and laterally compressed in their pods. In either species the two pod valves will separate from their margin, which persists as a nearly continuous and empty frame, reminiscent of other '' Entada'' pods.cf. Palmer & Pitman, Trees S. Afr. 2:827, 1973 The two pod valves of ''E. burkei'' roll back and persist with their margins for many months, while the pods of ''E. elephantina'' generally disintegrate and disappear more rapidly.

Gallery

Elephantorrhiza burkei 2.jpg, Inflorescences Elephantorrhiza burkei 1.jpg, Green seed pods Elephantorrhiza burkei, peule, Skrikfontein, a.jpg, Seed pod valves separating

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q121761944, from2=Q15534624 Mimosoids Flora of Zambia Flora of Botswana Flora of Zimbabwe Flora of the Northern Provinces