Eriosema is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. Accepted species number over 150.The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 2014/08/27) The genus is widespread in tropics.
Description Species of Eriosema are mostly herbs or shrublets. Leaves are pinnately 3-foliolate, rarely reduced to a single leaflet. Inflorescences are 1–2-flowered or pedunculate racemes in the leaf axils, yellow to orange, calyx is campanulate, consists of five similar lobes. Pods are short and flattened with two seeds.
Selected species
Eriosema campestre Benth. — Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil Eriosema chinense Vogel — South-East Asia, East Himalaya, India, New Guinea, Australia Eriosema defoliatum Benth. — Brazil Eriosema glabrum Mart. ex Benth. — Argentina, Brazil Eriosema glaziovii Harms — Brazil Eriosema harmsianum Dinter — Namibia Eriosema kraussianum Meisn. — South Africa Eriosema longifolium Benth. — Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay Eriosema salignum E.Mey. — South Africa Eriosema stenophyllum Harms — Brazil
Uses Root tubers of Eriosema species have been traditional food for Aborigines of the Northern Territory.NTFlora Northern Territory Flora online: Flora of the Darwin Region: Fabaceae. Retrieved 10 June 2018
References