Millettia sericea (Vent.) Wight & Arn.
Family
Leguminosae
Synonyms
None
Vernacular Names
- None
Geographical Distributions
Millettia sericea is found throughout Northern Vietnam, Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Java.
Description
Millettia sericea is a large liana that can reach up to 30 m long. There are 5-9 leaflets, which are oblong or oblong-obovate, measure 7-25 cm x 3.5-11 cm, rounded to cordate at base, shortly acuminate or rounded at apex and coriaceous. The inflorescence is an axillary or terminal pseudopanicle. It is 15-50 cm long while the flowers are in groups of 7-8. The sepal is 3-4.5 mm long, bell-shaped, truncate, with violet petal which is standard orbicular with a green basal blotch, absent auricles and callosities, sericeous outside, with elliptical wings, adherent to the petals keel, with diadelphous stamens, where the vexillary ones are free at base and joined into the tube in the middle. The pod is very thick with narrowed base and top, measures 5-7.5 cm x 1.5-3.5 cm, densely brown hairy, nearly smooth and 1-2-seeded. The seed is transverse-ellipsoid, thick and measures 2.5-3.5 cm x 1-2.5 cm x 0.4-1.3 cm. (1)
Ecology / Cultivation
Millettia sericea is found scattered on river banks and in forest fringes from sea level up to 1200 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
