Flemingia is a genus of plants in the family Fabaceae. It is native sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen, tropical Asia, and Australasia. In Asia the species are distributed in Bhutan, Burma, China, India; Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The genus was erected in 1812.
Description Members of Flemingia are shrubs, or herbs (or subshrubs); evergreen, or deciduous and perennial. They are generally about 0.2–1.5 m high. The stem is prostrate but weak. Leaves are small to medium-sized; not fasciculate, but alternate. The stem and leaves are pubescent, with dense hairs. Leaf blades are flat dorsoventrally. Flowers are aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; not crowded at the stem bases; in racemes, or in heads, or in panicles. Fruits are aerial, about 6–15 mm long; non-fleshy and hairy.
Diversity The number of known species is ambiguous due to taxonomic problems; and is usually enumerated as more than 30. Burma and China have the highest record of Flemingia species with 16 each, followed by India (with 15 species), Thailand (11 species), Laos (10 species), Vietnam (8 species), Bhutan (1 species) and Nepal (5 species). Plants of the World Online accepts 46 species.
Uses Root tubers of Flamingia species have traditionally been used as food for Aborigines of the Northern Territory.NTFlora Northern Territory Flora online: Flora of the Darwin Region: Fabaceae. Retrieved 10 June 2018
Traditional use Some species of Flemingia are used in the herbal medicine traditions of various Asian communities. This is attributed to their unique chemical properties, especially those of flavonoids and sterols. Their most common applications in traditional medicine are for epilepsy, dysentery, stomach ache, insomnia, cataract, helminthiasis, rheumatism, ulcer, and tuberculosis.
Species 46 species are accepted.
Flemingia angusta Flemingia angustifolia Flemingia bhutanica Flemingia bracteata Flemingia chappar Flemingia cumingiana Flemingia faginea Flemingia fluminalis Flemingia fruticulosa Flemingia gracilis Flemingia grahamiana Flemingia horsfieldii Flemingia javanica Flemingia kerrii Flemingia kweichowensis Flemingia lacei Flemingia langbiangensis Flemingia latifolia Flemingia lineata Flemingia macrophylla Flemingia mengpengensis Flemingia mukerjeeana Flemingia nana Flemingia nilgheriensis Flemingia paniculata Flemingia parviflora Flemingia pauciflora Flemingia praecox Flemingia procumbens Flemingia prostrata Flemingia rollae Flemingia semialata Flemingia sirindhorniae Flemingia sootepensis Flemingia stricta Flemingia strobilifera Flemingia teysmanniana Flemingia tiliacea Flemingia trifoliastrum Flemingia trifoliata Flemingia tuberosa Flemingia vestita Flemingia wallichii Flemingia weii Flemingia wightiana Flemingia yunnanensis
References
External links Classification at Botanica Sistematica Plant Profile at USDA Plant Database ITIS Report Taxonomy at UniProt Classification at Encyclopedia of Life
NCBI Taxonomy Browser Plantillustrations