Aeschynomene nyikensis Baker

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Path to Chisanga Falls, Nyika National Park

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Synonyms:
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Erect branched shrub, up to c. 3 m tall. Stems covered with viscid tubercular-based hairs when young, sometimes peeling to leave a roughened surface. Leaves fasciculate, 18–26(–40)-foliolate; leaflets linear-oblong, 1.5–3.5 mm long, rather thick, imbricated, pubescent or hairless; petiole and rhachis together up to 8 mm long; stipules lanceolate, 3 mm long. Inflorescences axillary, together usually forming a terminal panicle; rhachis 1.5–5 cm long; peduncle 0.3–1.2 cm long; pedicels 3 mm long; bracts ovate, 3.5 mm long, bifid, striate, pubescent, soon deciduous; bracteoles lanceolate, 5.5 mm long, ciliolate, eventually deciduous. Calyx slightly pubescent, 2-lipped; lips ovate or oblong, 7–10 mm long, one slightly to deeply emarginate, the other slightly trifid. Standard yellow or orange, sometimes lined with purple or red, 1.2–1.5 cm long; wings yellow or orange; keel-petals green or yellow, not laciniate. Pods of 1 or 2 articles joined by a narrow neck; articles elliptic, with upper edge almost straight and lower edge strongly curved, 7.5–10 mm long and 5.6–7 mm wide, compressed with thickened margins, hairless but later minutely verruculose.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	nyikensis: of the Nyika Plateau, where the type specimen was collected.
Habitat:	In and at the edges of Brachystegia woodland, sometimes along margins of marshland.
Altitude range:	1200 - 2250 m
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Southern Tanzania and Malawi.
Malawi distribution:	N,C,S
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:	Near Endemic
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Saturday 22 October 2022
Literature:	Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 151. Verdcourt, B. (2000). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(6) Page 103.

Other sources of information about Aeschynomene nyikensis:

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Aeschynomene nyikensis
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Aeschynomene nyikensis
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Aeschynomene nyikensis
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Aeschynomene nyikensis
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Aeschynomene nyikensis
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Aeschynomene nyikensis
JSTOR Plant Science: Aeschynomene nyikensis
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Aeschynomene nyikensis
Plants of the World Online: Aeschynomene nyikensis
Tropicos: Aeschynomene nyikensis
Wikipedia: Aeschynomene nyikensis