Stylosanthes
| Stylosanthes | |
|---|---|
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| Stylosanthes hamata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Tribe: | Dalbergieae |
| Genus: |
Stylosanthes Sw. |
| Species | |
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See text. |
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See text.
Stylosanthes is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae and contains numerous highly important pasture and forage species. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Pterocarpus clade of the Dalbergieae. The common name pencilflower is sometimes used for plants in this genus.
The genus is characterised by trifoliate leaves and small yellow flowers Species may be annual or perennial and morphology varies between species as well as within species in response to grazing pressure. Some species such as S. scabra grow as a low woody shrub to 1.5 m, while others such as S. humilis will grow as a herbaceous shrub but can adopt a prostrate growth form and thrive under high grazing pressure.
Taxonomy of the genus remains unsettled and controversial, with various authors favouring between 25 and 42 species, with at least 40 additional synonyms. The taxonomy is complicated by the existence of numerous natural tetraploid and hybrid populations. Species within the genus fall within two subgenera: Styposanthes and Stylosanthes. Styposanthes possess a small rudimentary secondary floral axis which is absent from Stylosanthes.Stylosanthes is closely related to the peanut genus Arachis.
All except two species of the genus are native to the Americas. S. fruticosa has a native range that extends from South Africa to Ethiopia, across Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka and S. erecta is endemic to Tropical Africa, from Tanzania to Senegal. The putative species S. sundaica, has a range that encompasses Malesia but is considered by most authors to be an adventive polypoliod variety of S. humilis. Ecological range extends from savanna and thorn scrub to tropical forest and montane forests.
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