Anthyllis
kidney vetch
erect, ascending, or decumbent, sericeous or hirsute.
alternate, odd-pinnate;
stipules present [absent];
petiolate;
leaflets (1–)9–15, blade margins entire, surfaces short-sericeous abaxially, glabrous adaxially.
5–25+-flowered, terminal [axillary], headlike racemes or umbels;
bracts present [absent];
prophylls present or absent.
papilionaceous;
calyx tubular [campanulate], lobes 5, often accrescent, pubescent;
corolla yellow or reddish;
stamens 10, monadelphous, [diadelphous or adaxial distinct to 1/2 its length, or at first all connate into a closed tube, distally becoming partly or entirely distinct];
anthers dorsifixed.
legumes, stipitate [sessile], straight, falcate, or arcuate, constricted between seeds or not, flattened-ovoid [short-linear], winged or not, indehiscent or tardily dehiscent, glabrous.
1 or 2, globose to ovoid.
= 6.
Anthyllis
Species ca. 25 (1 in the flora).
The term prophyll is used here to include small bractlike structures on the peduncles in genera of the Loteae that are distinct from the bases of flowers and not bracts themselves, which sit adjacent to the calyces (Z. V. Akulova et al. 2000; D. D. Sokoloff et al. 2007).
In Europe, Anthyllis is cultivated for animal forage and is also used in cosmetics for skin care; it is an ancient remedy for skin eruptions, slow-healing wounds, and cuts and bruises. In traditional medicine, it is used as an astringent, laxative, antitussive, and antitoxin. Several species are cultivated as ornamentals. Some species have root nodules of the Phaseolus type.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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