Shrubby Pencilflower

fruticosa: shrubby or becoming shrubby

Small shrubby perennial herb, sometimes only short-lived. Stems erect or sometimes prostrate, up to 1 m long, more or less densely hairy and sometimes bristly, growing from a thick woody rootstock. Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets elliptic to lanceolate, up to 3.3 cm long, pubescent and bristly; margin entire, often thickened. Flowers in dense axillary and terminal heads, normally one flower open at the time; standard creamy-white to orange-yellow with red veining and red at the base; wings and keel yellow. Pod 1-2-jointed, 4-9 mm long, beaked, dense.

Frequent

Widespread in tropical Africa, Namibia, Bostwana, and South Africa. Also in Madagascar, Arabia, India and Sri Lanka.

Perennial, Shrubs, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems prostrate, trailing, or mat forming, Stems less than 1 m tall, Plants gland-dotted or with gland-tipped hairs, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Stem hairs hispid to villous, Stems hairs pilose or spreading, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules clasping stem at the base, Stipules adnate to petiole, Stipules connate to each other, forming a tuber or sheath, Leaves compound, Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, Le aves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 3, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Flowers in axillary clusters or few-floweredracemes, 2-6 flowers, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescences globose heads, capitate or subcapitate, Inflorescence axillary, Inflorescence terminal, Bracts conspicuously present, Bracts hairy, Bracteoles present, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals orange or yellow, Petals bicolored or with red, purple or yellow streaks or spots, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Stamens 9-10, Stamens or anthers dimorphic, alternating large and small, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a loment, jointed, separating into articles, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit rugose wrinkled or reticulate, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit beaked, Fruit hairy, Fruit 2-seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Stylosanthes fruticosa (syn. Arachis fruticosa), the African stylo, wild lucerne or shrubby pencil‑flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Cape Verde, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, and has been introduced to Hawaii. Relished by livestock, it can survive light shade, acid soils and even light frosts. It grows from sea level to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) on as little as 300 mm (12 in) of rain per year.