Flemingia procumbens (PROSEA)
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Introduction |
Flemingia procumbens Roxburgh
- Family: Leguminosae
Synonyms
Flemingia vestita Bentham ex Baker, Moghania procumbens (Roxburgh) Mukerjee, M. vestita (Bentham ex Baker) Kuntze.
Vernacular names
- Sohphlong (En, India).
Distribution
From northern India through continental South-East Asia and southern China to the Philippines. Also cultivated in India (Assam).
Uses
The tubers are edible and can be eaten raw; they are rich in starch.
Observations
Small subshrub up to 1 m tall. Roots becoming tuberous, tubers fusiform, smooth, soft, 3-5 cm long. Leaves digitately trifoliolate; petiole 1-2 cm long; stipules lanceolate, 0.5 cm long; leaflets oblong, 4-6 cm × 2-3 cm, pubescent. Inflorescence a compact axillary raceme, 2 cm long; bracts lanceolate, 6-7 cm long; calyx tubular with 5 long lobes; petals unguiculate, red to purplish. Fruit an oblong, inflated legume, 7 mm long, containing two blackish reniform seeds 2 mm long. It occurs in savanna vegetation and on roadsides at 1000-3000 m altitude. In India, cultivated F. procumbens has a growing period of about 7 months and tuber yields amount to 10 t/ha.
Selected sources
13, 24, 26, 55, 63, 73, 78, 79, 94, 95.
Authors
L.E. Groen, J.S. Siemonsma & P.C.M. Jansen
