Caterpillar Bush

kirkii: named after Dr John Kirk, who accompanied David Livingstone on his Zambezi expedition of 1858

Shrub or small tree up to 9 m; bark longitudinally fissured, rough and corky. Leaves spaced apart on long shoots or borne in fascicles on short shoots; leaflets 7-13, 6-12 × 2-7 mm, elliptic-oblong or the terminal one obovate, pubescent or glabrous, not black-dotted; margin revolute; venation beneath usually not drying dark. Petiole 5-13 mm. Inflorescence a raceme, 1-3-flowered. Corolla persistent; pinkish or purple; blade of standard with two rounded appendages at base. Fruit up to 2 cm long, coiled within the persistent corolla, pubescent, glandular and minutely tuberculate.

Frequent

Somalia, DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa (Limpopo and Mpumalanga)