''Flemingia'' 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 ...

of plants in the family

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

. It is native sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen, tropical Asia, and Australasia. In Asia 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), ...

are distributed in Bhutan, Burma, China, India; Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The genus was erected in 1812.

Description

Members of ''Flemingia'' are

shrubs 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 herbs (or subshrubs);

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 ...

, or

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

and perennial. They are generally about 0.2–1.5 m high. The

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

is prostrate but weak. Leaves are small to medium-sized; not fasciculate, but alternate. The stem and leaves are

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-lik ...

, with dense hairs. Leaf blades are flat

dorsoventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

ly. Flowers are aggregated in ‘

inflorescences In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a main axis ( pe ...

’; not crowded at the stem bases; in

racemes A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, 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 produced as the shoo ...

, or in heads, or in

panicles In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

. Fruits are aerial, about 6–15 mm long; non-fleshy and hairy.

Diversity

The number of known species is ambiguous due to

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

problems; and is usually enumerated as more than 30. Burma and China have the highest record of ''Flemingia'' species with 16 each, followed by India (with 15 species), Thailand (11 species), Laos (10 species), Vietnam (8 species), Bhutan (1 species) and Nepal (5 species). ''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

'' accepts 46 species.

Uses

Root tubers of ''Flamingia'' species have traditionally been used as 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

Traditional use

Some species of ''Flemingia'' are used in the herbal medicine traditions of various Asian communities. This is attributed to their unique chemical properties, especially those of

flavonoids Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

and

sterols A sterol is any organic compound with a Skeletal formula, skeleton closely related to Cholestanol, cholestan-3-ol. The simplest sterol is gonan-3-ol, which has a formula of , and is derived from that of gonane by replacement of a hydrogen atom on ...

. Their most common applications in traditional medicine are for

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

stomach ache Abdominal pain, also known as a stomach ache, is a symptom associated with both non-serious and serious medical issues. Since the abdomen contains most of the body's vital organs, it can be an indicator of a wide variety of diseases. Given th ...

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens (anatomy), lens of the eye that leads to a visual impairment, decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or ...

helminthiasis Helminthiasis, also known as worm infection, is any macroparasite, macroparasitic disease of humans and other animals in which a part of the body is infected with parasitism, parasitic worms, known as helminths. There are numerous species of the ...

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...

ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughin ...

, and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

Species

46 species are accepted. *'' Flemingia angusta'' *'' Flemingia angustifolia'' *''

Flemingia bhutanica ''Flemingia'' is a genus of plants in the family Fabaceae. It is native sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen, tropical Asia, and Australasia. In Asia the species are distributed in Bhutan, Burma, China, India; Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Pap ...

'' *'' Flemingia bracteata'' *'' Flemingia chappar'' *'' Flemingia cumingiana'' *'' Flemingia faginea'' *'' Flemingia fluminalis'' *'' Flemingia fruticulosa'' *'' Flemingia gracilis'' *''

Flemingia grahamiana ''Flemingia grahamiana'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. Extracts of the plant are used in the dyeing of silk and cotton in parts of India, Africa, and the Middle East. Description An erect herb or subshrub, ''Flemingia ...

'' *'' Flemingia horsfieldii'' *'' Flemingia javanica'' *'' Flemingia kerrii'' *'' Flemingia kweichowensis'' *'' Flemingia lacei'' *'' Flemingia langbiangensis'' *'' Flemingia latifolia'' *'' Flemingia lineata'' *'' Flemingia macrophylla'' *'' Flemingia mengpengensis'' *'' Flemingia mukerjeeana'' *'' Flemingia nana'' *'' Flemingia nilgheriensis'' *'' Flemingia paniculata'' *'' Flemingia parviflora'' *'' Flemingia pauciflora'' *'' Flemingia praecox'' *'' Flemingia procumbens'' *'' Flemingia prostrata'' *'' Flemingia rollae'' *'' Flemingia semialata'' *'' Flemingia sirindhorniae'' *'' Flemingia sootepensis'' *''

Flemingia stricta ''Flemingia'' is a genus of plants in the family Fabaceae. It is native sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen, tropical Asia, and Australasia. In Asia the species are distributed in Bhutan, Burma, China, India; Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Pap ...

'' *''

Flemingia strobilifera ''Flemingia strobilifera'', commonly known as the luck plant or wild hops, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, and subfamily Faboideae. It is native to South, East and Southeast Asia. Range It is common in China, Taiwa ...

'' *'' Flemingia teysmanniana'' *'' Flemingia tiliacea'' *'' Flemingia trifoliastrum'' *'' Flemingia trifoliata'' *'' Flemingia tuberosa'' *''

Flemingia vestita ''Flemingia vestita'', famously known as sohphlang, is a nitrogen fixing herb with characteristic tuberous root, belonging to the genus ''Flemingia''. The root is edible and is a common vegetable in some Asian tribal communities. In addition, ...

'' *'' Flemingia wallichii'' *'' Flemingia weii'' *'' Flemingia wightiana'' *'' Flemingia yunnanensis''

References

External links

Classification at Botanica Sistematica

Plant Profile at USDA Plant DatabaseITIS ReportTaxonomy at UniProtClassification at Encyclopedia of Life
*
NCBI Taxonomy BrowserPlantillustrations
Phaseoleae Medicinal plants Fabaceae genera {{Phaseoleae-stub