Entada spinescens Brenan, Kew Bull. 10: 168. 1955.

O'Donnell, Shawn A., Ringelberg, Jens J. & Lewis, Gwilym P., 2022, Re-circumscription of the mimosoid genus Entada including new combinations for all species of the phylogenetically nested Elephantorrhiza (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae, mimosoid clade), PhytoKeys 205, pp. 99-145 : 99

Entada spinescens Brenan, Kew Bull. 10: 168. 1955.

Type.

TANZANIA. Mpwapwa District , near Gulwe, B.D. Burtt 4639 (holotype: K [K000232157, K000232158]) .

Description.

Climber, slender, woody to 3.6 m, stipules spinescent, young shoots pubescent. Leaves: stipules sub-conical, spinescent, rigid, gradually spreading, rachis 3.4-10.7 cm long; pinnae 1-3 pairs per leaf, sometimes modified into a tendril or spirally twisted at base, each pinna 2.8-6 cm long, with 12-18 pairs of leaflets; leaflets 5.6-17.5 × 1.7-3.2 mm, oblong to linear-oblong, apex rounded to obtuse and mucronate, base oblique, lamina glabrous, except for puberulous mid-rib and margins. Inflorescence: an axillary spike, 3-7 cm long, solitary, the rachis pubescent. Flowers: purple, sub-sessile; calyx 1 mm long, distinctly toothed, glabrous; petals 3-4 × 1.2-1.6 mm; stamen filaments 3.5-4.6 mm long. Fruit: a torulose, laterally compressed, falcate craspedium, 13-17 cm long, with transverse septa between seeds dividing the fruit into one-seeded segments which, upon ripening, fall from the persistent replum. Seeds: sub-circular to ovate, 10.4 × 9.2 × 2.3 mm, with closed pleurogram.

Distribution.

Tanzania.

Habitat and ecology.

Deciduous bushland and tall deciduous thickets; 910-1220 m alt.