Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs. Hairs basifixed. Leaves usually imparipinnate, rarely palmate or 1-foliolate; leaflets opposite or subopposite, often silky, entire, usually narrowed at base and widest above middle, often with a prominent marginal nerve. Flowers 2 or more together in leaf axils or at the nodes of pseudoracemes, which are sometimes condensed and appearing subcapitate or subumbellate. Calyx 5-lobed, the upper 2 lobes often ± united. Corolla usually reddish-purple; standard pubescent outside. Upper filament lightly attached to others, less often free; other filaments fused for 2/3 to 4/5 of their length. Ovary pubescent, sessile. Pod linear or oblong, ± flattened, beaked, usually dehiscent. Seeds may be longitudinal (long axis parallel to that of pod), transverse or oblique. Aril almost 0 to well-developed. Worldwide: 400 species in warm regions, mostly Africa and Australia Malawi: 41 taxa. Insects associated with this genus:
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| Species | FZ divisions | Content |
| acaciifolia Welw. ex Baker | N,C,S | Description, Image |
| aequilata Baker | N,S | Description, Image |
| aurantiaca Harms | N | |
| bracteolata Guill. & Perr. var. strigulosa Brummitt | N,C | |
| caerulea Baker f. subsp. caerulea | C,S | |
| candida DC. | S | |
| dasyphylla Welw. ex Baker subsp. dasyphylla | N,C | Description, Image |
| decora Welw. ex Baker | N,C,S | |
| elata Deflers subsp. heckmanniana (Harms) Brummitt var. heckmanniana | N,S | Description, Image |
| elongata E. Mey. var. elongata | S | |
| interrupta Engl. subsp. elongatiflora J.B. Gillett | N,C | Image |
| interrupta Engl. subsp. mildbraedii (Harms) J.B. Gillett | N | |
| linearis (Willd.) Pers. [Agg] | N,C,S | Description, Image |
| linearis (Willd.) Pers. var. discolor (E. Mey.) Brummitt | N,C,S | |
| linearis (Willd.) Pers. var. linearis | N,C,S | |
| lupinifolia DC. | N,C,S? | Description, Image |
| malvina Brummitt | N,C,S | |
| micrantha J.B. Gillett | N,C,S | |
| noctiflora Bojer ex Baker | S | Description, Image |
| nyikensis Baker subsp. nyikensis | N,C | |
| paniculata Baker | N,C,S | |
| paradoxa Brummitt | N | |
| pumila (Lam.) Pers. | N,C | |
| purpurea (L.) Pers. subsp. altissima Brummitt | S | |
| purpurea (L.) Pers. subsp. dunensis Brummitt | N,C | |
| purpurea (L.) Pers. subsp. leptostachya (DC.) Brummitt var. pubescens Baker | C | Description |
| purpurea (L.) Pers. subsp. leptostachya (DC.) Brummitt var. delagoensis (H.M.L. Forbes) Brummitt | S | Description |
| purpurea (L.) Pers. subsp. leptostachya (DC.) Brummitt | C,S | Description, Image |
| purpurea (L.) Pers. subsp. purpurea | C,S | |
| radicans Welw. ex Baker | C,S | Description, Image |
| reptans Baker var. arenicola Brummitt | N,C | |
| reptans Baker var. reptans | N,C,S | |
| rhodesica Baker f. var. rhodesica | N,C,S | Description, Image |
| rhodesica Baker f. var. polystachyoides (Baker f.) Brummitt | S | |
| richardsiae J.B.Gillett subsp. richardsiae | N | Description, Image |
| stormsii De Wild. var. pilosa Brummitt | N | |
| stormsii De Wild. var. stormsii | N,C,S | Description, Image |
| tanganicensis De Wild. | N | |
| villosa (L.) Pers. subsp. ehrenbergiana (Schweinf.) Brummitt var. ehrenbergiana | S | Description |
| vogelii Hook. f. | N,S | Description, Image |
| whyteana Baker subsp. whyteana [End] | S |