3901.010 Macroptilium (Benth.) Urb.

Herbs, with (in ours) trailing, prostrate stems. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate. Inflorescences axillary, of false racemes. Keel incurved; wings round, large, longer than standard and keel. Style with upper part thickened and characteristically abruptly curved through 90° just above its junction with the tenuous part and narrowed and slightly curved towards the apex, resembling a squarish hook. Pod linear.

Worldwide: c. 20 species in America; two widely cultivated (M. lathyroides (L.) Urb. and M. atropurpureum).

Malawi: 1 cultivated taxon.