Millettia puerarioides Prain (Fabaceae: Millettieae), a species with cauliflorous inflorescences newly recorded from China

Abstract

Millettia puerarioides Prain within the tribe Millettieae (Fabaceae) is a poorly known species and it was previously reported only from Myanmar. This species was recently found also in Yingjiang, Yunnan Province, China. The inflated pods with large seeds place it in Millettia section Macrosperma Dunn, but specimen examination and field investigations showed that it has inflorescences arising from leafless nodes and directly from the trunk (i.e. rami- and caulinascent inflorescences), which is similar to the species in the genus Fordia from the same tribe. This inflorescence type has been considered to be a rare character for Asian plants of the subfamily Papilionoideae, showing the close connection between Millettia and Fordia.