Abrus precatorius
Diagnostic description 4
Slightly woody vine, twining, much branched from the base, attainig 3 m in length. Stems green, cylindrical, puberulent, turning dark gray, rugose, glabrous and slightly flattened when mature. Leaves alternate, pinnate, 3-5 cm long; leaflets 8-15 pairs, 0.8-1.5 × 0.3-0.7 cm, oblong or oblanceolate, membranaceous, the apex rounded and mucronate, the base rounded, the margins entire; upper surface glabrous, dull, with inconspicuous venation; lower surface puberulent, dull, with the midvein prominent; petiolules minute, slender; rachis without glands, puberulent, with a minute stipel at the base of each leaflet; petioles minute, slender, with the base slightly swollen; stipules filiform, 2-3 mm long, persistent. Inflorescences of small axillary or terminal pseudoracemes, with 5-7 flowers clustered on the swellings of the rachis; bracts minute, deciduous. Calyx campanulate, green, 3-5 mm long, puberulent; corolla pink, the standard ovate, with the center dark pink, up to 1 cm long, concave, the apex acute, the wings and keels as long as the standard, unguiculate. Legumes oblong, 2-4.5 × 1-1.5 cm, slightly inflated, with the apex elongate and recurved and the margins slightly undulate, opening along the two sutures. Seeds ellipsoid, brilliant red, with a black spot at the base, 6-8 mm long.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10386078
- (c) J.M.Garg, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Abrus_precatorius_W_IMG_1578.jpg
- Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Abrus_precatorius_-_K%C3%B6hler%E2%80%93s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-002.jpg
- Adapted by Marco Schmidt from a work by (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435338
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- African Plants - a photo guide
- Atlas of Living Australia
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- Catalogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- World Flora Online
