''Eriosema'' is a genus of

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 in the family

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

. Accepted species number over 150. The genus is widespread in tropics.

Description

Species of ''Eriosema'' are mostly

herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

or shrublets. Leaves are

pinnately Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

3-foliolate, rarely reduced to a single leaflet. Inflorescences are 1–2-flowered or pedunculate

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 in the leaf

axils A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, f ...

, yellow to orange, calyx is campanulate, consists of five similar lobes. Pods are short and flattened with two seeds.

Selected species

* '' Eriosema campestre''

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

— Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil * '' Eriosema chinense'' Vogel — South-East Asia, East Himalaya, India, New Guinea, Australia * '' Eriosema defoliatum'' Benth. — Brazil * '' Eriosema glabrum''

Mart. Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botany, botanist and explorer. Between 1817 and 1820, he travelled 10,000 km through Brazil while collecting botanical specimens. His m ...

ex Benth. — Argentina, Brazil * '' Eriosema glaziovii'' Harms — Brazil * '' Eriosema harmsianum'' Dinter — Namibia * '' Eriosema kraussianum''

Meisn. Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

— South Africa * '' Eriosema longifolium'' Benth. — Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay * '' Eriosema salignum''

E.Mey. Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer (1 January 1791 – 7 August 1858) was a German botanist and botanical historian. Born in the Electorate of Hanover, he lectured in Göttingen and in 1826 became a professor of botany at the University of Königsb ...

— South Africa * '' Eriosema stenophyllum'' Harms — Brazil File:Eriosema umtamvunense 1DS-II 9822.jpg, Eriosema umtamvunense in

Umtamvuna Nature Reserve The Umtamvuna Nature Reserve is situated in South Africa on the KwaZulu-Natal side of the Mtamvuna River, and is managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. The reserve is 3,257 hectares in extent and was established on 25 July 1971.Pooley, T. and Player ...

File:Flickr - João de Deus Medeiros - Eriosema longifolium.jpg, ''Eriosema longifolium'' in

Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park () is a National park (Brazil), national park of Brazil located in the state of Goiás, on the top of an ancient plateau with an estimated age of 1.8 billion years. The park was created on January 11, 1961, by P ...

File:Eriosema 2017 10 25 2204.jpg, ''Eriosema kraussianum'' in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

File:Eriosema salignum 1DS-II 1893.jpg, ''Eriosema salignum'' in fruit in South Africa.

Uses

Root tubers of ''Eriosema'' species have been traditional food for Aborigines of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

.NTFlora Northern Territory Flora online:
''Flora of the Darwin Region: Fabaceae.''
Retrieved 10 June 2018

References

Phaseoleae Fabaceae genera Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Phaseoleae-stub