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Leguminosae
Description
Robust, strong-stemmed, glabrous twining plant with a wide
ovate leaf, slightly pubescent on the undersurface. Lateral leaves are
oblique and terminal leaf larger, on short peduncles, glabrous. Flowers
few and large, terminal. Pod 10 to 15 cm long and 1.5 cm broad. Seeds oblong
and round. Plant becomes dark coloured when dry. Calyx truncate (Pittier,
1944) .
Distribution
Indigenous to tropical America; now widespread in the tropics.
Characteristics
Found at elevations of 200 to 1100 m in Venezuela . Was used
as a cover crop or green manure in rubber, coconut and oil palm plantations
until replaced by Centrosema pubescens (Burkill et al., 1935). Grof and
Harding (1968) found that C. plumieri recovered quickly after cutting in
north Queensland, Australia, but its yield over five months was less than
with other Centrosema spp.
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