Balloon peas
Balloon peas | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lessertia frutescens , illustration by William Curtis |
||||||||||||
Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Lessertia | ||||||||||||
DC. |
The lessertia ( Lessertia ) are a genus of the subfamily Pea (Faboideae) in the family of legumes (Fabaceae, Leguminosae). They are closely related to the bladder bushes ( Colutea ). The genus is named after the French botanist Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert .
description
Balloon peas are usually perennial , rarely also annual , herbaceous plants or shrubs . The stem axis is erect or prostrate. The leaves are pinnate unpaired or rarely simple. The stipules are paired.
The flowers, standing above paired bracts , are grouped in elongated or almost head-like, axillary, racemose inflorescences, or are rarely isolated. The small, zygomorphic flowers are 6 to 10 millimeters long. The calyx teeth are more or less the same. The nailed petals are pink, purple or yellow. Pollination takes place by birds ( ornithophilia ).
The legumes are elongated, compressed, or rarely puffed up, and are spread out by the wind.
distribution
The genus occurs mainly in Africa , with the distribution center in the south, only the species L. benguellensis , L. pauciflora , L. incana , and L. stipulata also occur in tropical regions.
use
Various species of the genus are used as fodder for cattle or as medicinal plants in traditional medicine. Infusions of Lessertia argentata and Lessertia tomentosa are used to treat eye diseases, the leaves of Lessertia stenoloba and Lessertia inflata as laxatives and Lessertia macrostachya for stomach and liver pain. A powder made from Lessertia benguellensis is used to treat syphilis , angina, and bloody urine.
Systematics
Some authors classify the very similar genus Sutherlandia R. Br. In the genus of balloon peas ( Lessertia ). Both genera are very similar in growth, with Sutherlandia the flowers are 15 to 30 millimeters in size and red, and the fruits are larger than with Lessertia . The genus of the bladder bushes ( Colutea ) is also very similar to the genus Lessertia , so that the classification of many species is controversial:
There are currently 50 to 75 species in the genus:
- Lessertia abbreviata E. Mey.
- Lessertia acanthorhachis Dinter
- Lessertia acuminata E. Mey.
- Lessertia affinis Burtt Davy
- Lessertia annularis Burch.
- Lessertia arcuata Eckl. & Zeyh.
- Lessertia argentea Harv.
- Lessertia astragalina Meisn.
- Lessertia benguellensis Baker
- Lessertia brachypus Harv.
- Lessertia brachystachya DC.
- Lessertia candida E. Mey.
- Lessertia canescens Goldblatt & JCManning
- Lessertia capensis Druce
- Lessertia capitata E. Mey.
- Lessertia carnosa Eckl. & Zeyh.
- Lessertia cryptantha Dinter
- Lessertia depressa Harv.
- Lessertia diffusa R.Br.
- Lessertia distans Burtt Davy
- Lessertia dubia Druce
- Lessertia dykei L. Bolus
- Lessertia emarginata Schinz
- Lessertia eremicola Dinter
- Lessertia excisa DC.
- Lessertia falciformis DC.
- Lessertia flanaganii L. Bolus
- Lessertia flexuosa E. Mey.
- Lessertia frutescens (L.) Goldblatt & JC Manning
- Lessertia fruticosa Lindl.
- Lessertia globosa L. Bolus
- Lessertia harveyana L. Bolus
- Lessertia herbacea Druce
- Lessertia incana Schinz
- Lessertia inflata Harv.
- Lessertia kensitii L. Bolus
- Lessertia lanata Harv.
- Lessertia macrostachya DC.
- Lessertia margaritacea E. Mey.
- Lessertia microcarpa E. Mey.
- Lessertia miniata Salter
- Lessertia montana (E. Phillips & RADyer) Goldblatt & JCManning
- Lessertia monticola Cunn. ex A. Gray
- Lessertia mossii R. Young
- Lessertia mucronata Harv.
- Lessertia nana R. Young
- Lessertia obtusa DC.
- Lessertia obtusata Eckl. & Zeyh.
- Lessertia pappeana Harv.
- Lessertia pauciflora Harv.
- Lessertia perennans DC.
- Lessertia phillipsiana Burtt Davy
- Lessertia physodes Eckl. & Zeyh.
- Lessertia polystachya Harv.
- Lessertia propinqua Eckl. & Zeyh.
- Lessertia prostrata DC.
- Lessertia pubescens DC.
- Lessertia pulchra Sims
- Lessertia purpurea R. Young
- Lessertia rigida DC.
- Lessertia worsei bolus
- Lessertia seinei Harms ex Seiner
- Lessertia sneeuwbergensis Germish.
- Lessertia spinescens E. Mey.
- Lessertia stenoloba E. Mey.
- Lessertia stipulata Baker f.
- Lessertia stricta bolus
- Lessertia subcanescens Gand.
- Lessertia subumbellata Harv.
- Lessertia sulcata E. Mey.
- Lessertia tenuifolia E. Mey.
- Lessertia thodei L. Bolus
- Lessertia tomentosa DC.
- Lessertia tumida Eckl. & Zeyh.
- Lessertia venusta Eckl. & Zeyh.
- Lessertia vesicaria DC.
- Lessertia villosa E. Mey.
swell
- Genus Lessertia near Plantzafrica ( South African National Biodiversity Institute )
- Genus Lessertia at PlantNET: New South Wales Flora Online