Bolusanthus
Genus of legumes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bolusanthus speciosus (tree wisteria) is a species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It is the only member of the genus Bolusanthus .[2][3][4]
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| Bolusanthus | |
|---|---|
| |
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| Habit | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Tribe: | Sophoreae |
| Genus: | Bolusanthus Harms (1906) |
| Species: | B. speciosus |
| Binomial name | |
| Bolusanthus speciosus (Bolus) Harms (1906) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
It is a small deciduous tree, which can grow up to 7 m (23 ft) tall. It has black, fissured rough bark and also drooping branches. Between September and October, when the tree has no leaves, it begins to bloom, with lilac blue flowers. Later it produces a seed capsule, the grey pods contain 3-8 smooth, bright yellow or brown seeds.[5]
The wood is very hard, heavy and yellow in colour. It can be used for axe-handles, wagon spokes and fencing poles. The tree is also grown in gardens due to the attractive flowers.[5]
Distribution
It is native to KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Provinces (of South Africa), Eswatini, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[1] It is found in low to medium elevations in woodland or wooded grasslands.[5]
Taxonomy
The genus name of Bolusanthus is in honour of Harry Bolus, (1834 – 1911) who was a South African botanist, botanical artist, businessman and philanthropist.[6]
It was first published and described by (Bolus) Hermann Harms (a German botanist) in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 2: 15 in 1906.[1]
