Description: Woody subshrubs or lianas
Leaves pulvinate, paripinnate, minutely stipellate; leaflets opposite.
Flowers in pseudoracemes. Calyx subtruncate to shortly toothed, the upper lobes joined higher. Standard shortly clawed, with small, inflexed auricles. Keel petals shallowly falcate, abaxially adnate, interlocked with wings. Stamens 9, connate in a split sheath; anthers uniform or 4 slightly smaller. Style glabrous.
Fruit mostly compressed, ± septate, dehiscent; seeds subglobose or compressed-ellipsoid; hilum short; radicle incurved.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 17 species, mostly African, one species extending to Australia. Introduced in the Americas..
| One species in NSW: Abrus precatorius. |
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