Canavalia Adans.

Canavalia maritima Thouars; Dolichos obtusifolius Lam.

Canavalia rosea (Sw.) Dc., Prodr. 2: 404. 1825.

Fig. 99. H-L

Basionym: Dolichos roseus Sw.

Synonyms: Dolichos maritimus Aubl.

Canavalia maritima (Aubl.) Urb.

Canavalia maritima Thouars

Dolichos obtusifolius Lam.

Canavalia obtusifolia (Lam.) Dc.

Woody vine, creeping or twining, much branched from the base, attainig 2-6 m in length. Stems smooth, glabrescent, green, mulberrycolored at the nodes, with adventitious roots. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate; leaflets 4-10.4 × 3-10 cm, chartaceous, oblong, ovate, or orbicular, involute, the apex obtuse, rounded, retuse and mucronate, the base cuneate or rounded, the margins entire; upper surface glabrous except for the puberulent veins; lower surface puberulent, yellowish green, dull, with prominent venation; rachis sulcate, villous, 3-4.5 cm long; petiolules swollen, villous, ca. 1 cm long; petioles sulcate, villous, swollen at the base, 4-6 cm long; stipels absent; stipules triangular, persistent. Inflorescences of axillary pseudoracemes, 25-30 cm long, the flowers in pairs on each nodal swelling along the rachis; bracts minute, deciduous. Calyx 8-11 mm long, yellowish green, with five lobes, three small and two large, puberulent; corolla violet-pink, the standard broadly elliptical, 2-2.5 cm long, reflexed, white in the center, the wings and the keel shorter than the standard. Legume 10-17 × 2.3-2.5 cm, oblong, not flattened, subwoody, with three keels on each valve. Seeds numerous, 1.5-1.8 cm long, ellipsoid, brown, with the hilum white.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting almost throughout the year.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 776; 2018; 2911; 4320; 5301; 6975.

Canavalia

Bejucos leñosos o herbáceos, volubles o rastreros. Hojas alternas, trifolioladas; estipelas ausentes; estípulas diminutas, deciduas o persistentes. Flores zigomorfas, bisexuales, en pseudoracimos axilares o terminales, agregadas en las hinchazones nudosas del raquis; brácteas diminutas, en pares; pedicelos cortos. Cáliz campanulado, con 5 lóbulos, 2 de los cuales de mayor tamaño; corola rosada, violeta o púrpura, el estandarte obovado, unguiculado, auriculado y engrosado en la base, las alas y la quilla de tamaño similar; estambres 10, monadelfos; ovario súpero, sésil o estipitado, unicarpelar, pubescente, con numerosos óvulos, el estilo filiforme, el estigma capitado. Fruto una legumbre alargada, comprimida o casi cilíndrica, dehiscente o indehiscente, no septada entre las semillas, con una costilla longitudinal a lo largo de ambas suturas o a lo largo de la sutura ventral; semillas 3 o más, usualmente oblongas. Género con 50 especies, en su gran mayoría nativas del Nuevo Mundo.

Canavalia

Woody or herbaceous vines, twining or creeping. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate; stipels absent; stipules minute, deciduous. Inflorescences of axillary or terminal pseudoracemes; the flowers clustered on the nodal swellings of the rachis; bracts minute, in pairs; pedicels short. Calyx campanulate, the lobes 5, unequal, 2 larger; corolla pink, violet, or purple, the standard obovate, unguiculate, auriculate and thickened at the base, the wings and the keel of similar size; stamens 10, the filaments united into a long tube; ovary superior, sessile or stipitate, pubescent, with numerous ovules, the style filiform, the stigma capitate. Fruit an elongate legume, flattened or slightly inflated, dehiscent or indehiscent, not septate between the seeds, with a longitudinal keel along both sutures or along the ventral suture; seeds 3 or more, usually oblong. A genus of 50 species, the great majority native to the New World.