56 FABACEAE Centrosema 
CENTROSEMA (DC.) Benth. 
Twining vines. Tomentum of simple hairs and minute hooked hairs. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, discolorous. 
Stipules triangular, stipules and stipels persistent, striate. Inflorescence axillary, with 1-several flowers toward 
the apex of a slender peduncle; bracts caducous, striate; bracteoles connate, enveloping bud, striate, ovate. 
Upper pair of calyx lobes connate. Standard broadly orbicular, resupinate, pubescent on back. Stamens 9+1; 
filaments alternately long and short; anthers dorsifixed, versatile. Style spathulate; stigma a ciliate margin at 
apex of style. Pod linear, flattened, dehiscent, seeds surrounded by pithy tissue, valve margins thickened or 
ridged, apex caudate. Seeds + quadrate; hilum linear, central; ecarunculate; funicle as long as hilum, rigid, 
persisting on pod. 
A genus of c. 50 species native to the New World. Two species are in Australia and the DR, both introduced 
for pasture improvement. 
1. Leaves pubescent; flowers c. 25 mm long; pod C. 6 MM Wide oo... eeeeseeeseeeeeeeseeeeteeneee 
1. Leaves glabrate; flowers c. 40 mm long; pod >8 MM Wide ....... eee eseeeseeeseeeeeseneeeeneee 
*C, plumieri (Turp. ex Pers.) Benth. 
Annual. Vegetative parts glabrous or nearly so. 
Stipules 7-8 mm long. Leaf rachis to basal leaflets 
63-105 mm, 90-135 mm overall; stipels linear, 4.5-6 
mm long; leaflets ovate to oblong; basal leaflets 
asymmetric, 69-105 mm long, 31-55 mm wide, L/W 
1.6-2.2; terminal leaflet 70-111 mm long, 60-86 mm 
wide, L/W 1.1-1.4. Inflorescence 55-70 mm long. 
Pedicels 10-12 mm long; bracteoles 13-14 mm long. 
Calyx c. 5 mm long; shallowly lobed. Corolla pink 
with purple centre, standard c. 40 mm long. Pod dark 
grey to black, 100-140 mm long, 8-10 mm wide, tail 
20-35 mm long. Seeds c. 16, reddish brown, c. 5 mm 
long, 3.5 mm wide; hilum c. 2/3 length of seed. 
Flowering: wet season; fruiting: late wet season to 
early dry season. Fig. 18 
A cultivated species naturalised in West Africa and 
elsewhere. In the NT and DR known only from East 
Point, Darwin. 
C. pubescens 
C. plumieri 
*C, pubescens Benth. 
Perennial. Pubescent throughout (except pods) with 
hooked hairs on calyx, bracteoles and keel. Stipules 
c. 2mm long. Leaf rachis to basal leaflets 15-42 mm, 
24-54 mm overall; stipels filiform, c. 2 mm long; 
leaflets ovate or elliptic; basal leaflets 25-50 mm long, 
13-25 mm wide, L/W 1.9-2.8; terminal leaflet 39-68 
mm long, 20-35 mm wide, L/W 1.4-2.2. Inflorescence 
to 55 mm long; bracts ovate, c. 3 mm long. Pedicels 
c. 6 mm long; bracteoles 6-8 mm long. Calyx 10-11 
mm long; lower lobe linear to 6 mm long. Corolla 
mauve; standard 23-25 mm long. Pod pale brown, 
the 2 sutural ribs darker, 100-117 mm long, c. 6 mm 
wide, tail 12-15 mm long. Seeds c. 20, red brown, 
mottled, 3-4 mm long, c. 3 mm wide; hilum c. 2 mm 
long. Flowering: May - Oct; fruiting: Sept - Oct. 
Fig. 18 
Naturalised throughout the tropics. In Australia, in 
Qld, NT and WA. Common in Darwin gardens. 
CHRISTIA Moench 
Tropical Australasian genus of c. 10 species; 1 species in Australia, WA and NT. 
C. australasica (Schindler) Bakh.f. ex Meeuwen 
Annual or perennial slender trailing vine with annual 
aerial stems. Vegetative parts and calyx pubescent with 
a.mixture of short patent simple hairs, micro hooked 
hairs and glandular based septate hairs. Stipules 
persistent, narrow, striate, c. 4 mm long. Leaves 1- 
foliolate or less often pinnately 3-foliolate; rachis 12- 
38 mm long; stipels persistent; leaflets discolorous, 
slightly scabrous above, venation reticulate below; 
basal leaflets + orbicular, 8.5-14 mm diam.; terminal 
leaflet obdeltoid or transversely oblong or obcordate, 
10-25 mm long, 15-47 mm wide, L/W 0.37-0.64. 
Inflorescence of sparsely flowered terminal and 
axillary racemes to 350 mm long; bracts caducous, 
c. 1 mm long. Pedicels 3-7 mm long; bracteoles at 
base of pedicels, caducous. Calyx equally lobed, in 
