User:DavidAnstiss/Polhillides velutina

Polhillides velutina, is a species of plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is the only known species of the monotypic genus Polhillides

It is a annual, perennial or subshrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome(s). Polhillides velutina (Willd.) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi First published in J. Jap. Bot. 94: 72 (2019)

range of this genus is Tropical & Subtropical Old World. First published in J. Jap. Bot. 94: 71 (2019)

Andaman Is., Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, China South-Central, China Southeast, Congo, East Himalaya, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Hainan, India, Ivory Coast, Jawa, Kenya, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Taxonomy
The genus name of Polhillides is in honour of Roger Marcus Polhill (b. 1937), an English botanist at Kew Gardens with a focus on Fabaceae. Who collected plants in Africa. He also wrote a book in 2001 'Flora of tropical East Africa'. The Latin specific epithet velutina refers to velvety,

The genus was circumscribed by Hiroyoshi Ohashi and Kazuaki Ohashi in J. Jap. Bot. vol.94 (Issue 2) on page 71 in 2019.

The United States Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Service regard the species as a possible synonym of Hedysarum with no species listed.

Subspecies
Accepted Infraspecifics Includes 3 Accepted Infraspecifics
 * Polhillides velutina subsp. longibracteata
 * Polhillides velutina var. sikkimensis
 * Polhillides velutina subsp. velutina

Description
Erect, subshrub or woody herb, 0.5 -3 m tall. Stems with dense spreading ferrugineous hairs when young, becoming hairless below. Leaves 1-foliolate; leaflet lamina large, 3-19 × 2-13 cm, ovate to almost circular; apex bluntly acute to rounded; appressed-pubescent above, velvety beneath; petiole 1.5 - 3.5 mm. Inflorescences of terminal and axillary false racemes. Calyx hairy; lobes to 1.5 mm long. Standard violet, lilac, red or blue. Fruit of 2-7 articles, bearing hooked hairs; articles 2.5-4 mm long. Seeds brown. Notes: Derivation of specific name:	velutina: velvety Habitat:	In grassland and woodland, sometimes in riverine habitats. Altitude range: (metres)	Up to 1320 m