Entada wahlbergii Harv., Fl. Cap. 2: 277. 1862.

= Entada flexuosa Hutch. & Dalziel, Fl. W. Trop. Afr. 1: 356. 1928.

Type.

SOUTH AFRICA. Natal, probably Zululand, J.A. Wahlberg s.n. (holotype: S [S13-12053]; photos: K, PRE) .

Description.

Climber, slender, woody, to 3-4 m, young branches glabrous and sinuous (Fig. 24A). Leaves: rachis 3.4-8.4 cm long; pinnae (1-)2(-3) pairs per leaf, sometimes modified into a tendril or spirally twisted at base, 2.8-6.5 cm long, with 7-18 pairs of leaflets; leaflets 5-19 × 1.5-6 mm, oblong, apex rounded to obtuse and mucronate, base oblique, lamina glabrous (Fig. 24B). Inflorescence: an axillary spiciform raceme, 3-6 cm long, solitary or grouped together on short leafless shoots or occupying terminal portions of leafy shoots, rachis glabrous (Fig. 24C). Flowers: dark purple or red, pedicels 1-1.5 mm; calyx 1-1.5 mm long, deeply toothed, glabrous; petals 3-4.5 mm long; stamen filaments 4-6.5 mm long (Figs 2I, 24C). Fruit: a torulose, laterally compressed, falcate craspedium, 11-23(-30) × 2.9-3.8(-4.4) cm, with transverse septa between seeds dividing the fruit into one-seeded segments which, upon ripening, fall from the persistent replum (Fig. 24A, D). Seeds: 1-1.1 × 0.7-0.8(-1) cm, pleurogram oval, closed.

Distribution.

Tropical west to southern Africa, from Guinea and Mali to Nigeria and Sudan, south through the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and South Africa.

Habitat and ecology.

Wooded grassland, open forest, bushveld, valley scrub and banks of dry watercourses on dry, sandy soil; 610-1070 m alt.