Entada rheedii Spreng.

Family Description

Trees, shrubs or herbs, sometimes twinging or climbing. Leaves althernate, sometimes simple but usually with few to many leaflets arranged trifoliately, pinnately, bipinnately or digitately; stipules usually present. Flowers zygomorphic and bisexual, or actinomorphic and osmetimes polygamous; infloresence often terminal, axillary or supra axillary. Calyx campanulate or tubular, 5-toothed, the posterior pair of teeth often ± connate. Petals mostly 5 or sometimes fewer, free or some or all connate, equal or unequal. Stamens commonly 10, rarely only 3 or 7 fetile and fully developed sometimes numerous; filaments variously untied, rarely free. Ovary monocarpellate, superior, unilocular or sometimes falsely plurilocular, ovules one or more borne on posterior suture; style simple, filiform or capitate, al. Fryit a pod (legume), valves usually dry rarely fleshy, usually dehiscent along both sutures or breaking transversely into 1-seeded segments, or indehicent. Seeds often pea- or bean-like, rarely conspicuously arrilate.
Leaves evenly bipinnate, rarely reduced to a broadened simple leaf-like petiole (phyllode). Flowers regular, small, in spikes or globose heads, often polygamous, Sepals and petals usually united at base. Stamens 10 to numerous rarely 4-8, concpicuously exserted, filaments usually united at base.

Genus Description

Large woody climbers. Leaves evenly bipinnate, rachis usually ending in a branched tendril; stipules small. Flowers small, numerous in crowded axillary spikes, polygamous. Calyx campanulate, obscurely 5-toothed. Petals 5, free, subequal. Stamens 10 free, anthers with a deciduous apical gland. Pods oblong, compressed, woody, sutures thickened, valves transversely jointed, breaking away from sutures thickened, valves transversely joint, breaking away from sutures into 1-seeded, indehiscent segments.

Species description

Leaves 12-25cm; pinnae 2 pairs, 7-12cm, each bearing 3-4 pairs of elliptic or narrowly obovate leaflets 3-6 x 1.5-3cm, obtuse or subacute, base rouned, glabrous, petiolules 2-3mm; stipules subulate, 4-7mm. Spikes 10-25cm, flowers mostly male, bisexual flowers usually in upper parts of spikes, rachis brownish tomentose. Calyx 1mm, pubescent. Petals yellowish, elliptic, 2-3 x 0.75mm. Stamens 4-5mm. Pods oblong, somewhat curved, 20-60(-75) x 8-10cm, segments 4-15, ± rectangular, 4-6cm long; seeds suborbicular or ovoid, 4-5cm diameter, 1.75cm thick, brown.

Phuentsholing, Deothang, Mongar, Trashigang. 600-1500m.