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 Rwanda: 8 taxa. Insects associated with this genus:
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| Species | Content | |
| aequilata Baker | Description, Image | |
| elata Deflers subsp. elata | Description, Image | |
| interrupta Engl. subsp. mildbraedii (Harms) J.B. Gillett | ||
| linearis (Willd.) Pers. var. linearis | ||
| nana Kotschy | ||
| nyikensis Baker subsp. victoriensis Brummitt & J.B.Gillett | ||
| paniculata Baker | ||
| vogelii Hook. f. | Description, Image |