Entada abyssinica Steud. ex A. Rich, Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 234. 1847.

O'Donnell, Shawn A., Ringelberg, Jens J. & Lewis, Gwilym P., 2022, Re-circumscription of the mimosoid genus Entada including new combinations for all species of the phylogenetically nested Elephantorrhiza (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae, mimosoid clade), PhytoKeys 205, pp. 99-145 : 99

Entada abyssinica Steud. ex A. Rich, Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 234. 1847.

= Entada abyssinica var. microphylla Oliv., Fl. Trop. Afr. 2: 228. 1871. Synon. nov.

= Entada abyssinica var. intermedia Fiori, L’Agricoltura Colon. 5: 170. 1911. Placed as a synonym of E. abyssinica by Thulin (1983) in Leguminosae of Ethiopia: 36. 1983.

Types.

ETHIOPIA. Tigray region, mountains of Shire Dschogardi, Schimper 520 (isosyntypes: BR [BR0000008378606], H [H1034939], HAL [HAL0120946], K [000232163, 000232164], LG [LG0000090027161], M [0108317], MO [MO-954247], MPU [MPU016174], P [P00418276, P00418277 & P00418278], S [S13-12046], TUB [TUB000996 & TUB000997]); ETHIOPIA. Abyssinie, Quartin Dillon s.n. (syntype: MPU [MPU016240 & MPU016246]).

Description.

Tree 2.7-10(-15) m tall, crown spreading (Figs 2B , 6A ). Leaves: rachis 16.3-21.7 cm long, tendrils absent; pinnae 12-20 pairs per leaf, each pinna 4.8-7.8 cm long, with 20-55 pairs of leaflets; leaflets 4-12 × 1-3 mm, linear-oblong, apex rounded to obtuse and mucronate, base rounded to sub-truncate, mid-rib oblique, closer to the distal margin, lamina appressed-pubescent above and below though sometimes glabrescent above (Fig. 6C ). Inflorescence: a 7-16 cm long spiciform raceme, either solitary or in groups of up to 4 inserted in a supra-axillary position, inflorescence peduncle and rachis pubescent (Fig. 6B ). Flowers: creamy white turning yellowish, sweetly scented, pedicels 0.5-1 mm long; calyx 0.75-1 mm long, shallowly toothed, glabrous; petals 1.5-3 × 1 mm; stamen filaments 3.5-6 mm long (Fig. 6B ). Fruit: a laterally compressed, torulose, almost straight craspedium, 15-39 × 3.8-9 cm, with transverse septa between seeds dividing the fruit into one-seeded segments which, upon ripening, fall from the persistent replum; segments moderately umbonate over seeds (Fig. 6C ). Seeds: 1-1.3 × 0.8-1 cm, pleurogram elliptic, C-shaped or closed.

Distribution.

Tropical and southern subtropical Africa (excluding Madagascar).

Habitat and ecology.

Wooded grassland (Chipya), fringes of woodland (Miombo, characterised by Brachystegia Benth.), riparian vegetation and - in Sierra Leone - on laterite plateaux; 430-2290 m alt.

Figures

Figure 2. Genus-wide variation in morphological characters. A-D habit A large woody liana, E. rheedei (photo: B Wursten, Hyde et al. (2021)) B small tree, E. abyssinica (photo: G Baumann, Dressler et al. (2014 a)) C shrub, E. burkei (photo: M Schmidt, Dressler et al. (2014 a, b )) D geoxylic suffrutex, E. dolichorrhachis (photo: M Bingham, Bingham et al. (2021)) E, F leaves E bipinnate leaf with few pinnae, few large leaflets and ending in a bifurcating tendril, E. rheedei (photo: AP Balan, Balan and Predeep (2021)) F bipinnate leaf with many pinnae, many small leaflets and no tendril, E. rangei (photo: A Dreyer, Dressler et al. (2014 a)) G-I inflorescences G terminal panicle of up-turned spikes, E. polyphylla (photo: R Vasquez Martinez, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0, MBG (2021)) H axillary fascicles of spiciform racemes, E. goetzei (photo: G Baumann, Dressler et al. (2014 a)) I short spiciform raceme of dark red flowers, E. wahlbergii (photo: R Mangelsdorff, Dressler et al. (2014 a)) J-M fruits J immature, weakly falcate, segmented craspedium up to 2 m long, E. rheedei (photo: photographer unknown, Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), 2000) K immature, segmented, laxly spiralled craspedium up to 120 cm long, E. gigas (photo: R Aguilar CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, Aguilar (2021)) L ripe segmented craspedia breaking up into one-seeded segments with exfoliating epicarp, E. africana (photo: B Eichhorn, Dressler et al. (2014 a)) M ripe unsegmented craspedium, the entire valve breaking away from the persistent replum, E. burkei (photo: M Kriek CC BY-SA 4.0, Ueda (2021) observation 85675968) N, O seeds N one-seeded endocarp segment and small ovoid, flattened seed with elliptic pleurogram, E. africana (photo: B Eichhorn, Dressler et al. (2014 a)) O ripe one-seeded fruit segments with large circular, laterally compressed seeds lacking a pleurogram, E. gigas (photo: J Stevens, Dressler et al. (2014 a)). Scale bars: 1 cm (N, O).

Figure 6. Entada abyssinica habit, vegetative and reproductive structures. A small tree, Malawi (photo: G Baumann, Dressler et al. (2014 a)) B spiciform racemes both pre- and post-anthesis, Malawi (photo: G Baumann, Dressler et al. (2014 a)) C immature fruit and leaves, Burkina Faso (photo: A Thiombiano, Dressler et al. (2014 a)).