Shrubby yellow eriosema, Canary pea
Eriosema psoraleoides

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

A herb or shrub. It is tall and erect. It can be 2 m tall. There are dense grey hairs on the stems and under the leaves. The leaves have 3 leaflets. These are sword shaped and 6 cm long by 1.2 cm wide. They have a small tip. There are many flowers. These are close together on short flower shoots. They are yellow. The fruit are rough pods. They are 1.5 cm long by 8 mm wide.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows below 1,950 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Congo DR, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Equatorial-Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The pods are picked when they are mature and have started to shrivel then the seeds are lightly boiled before eating. The seeds are cooked with maize meal.

Edible parts

Seeds, fruit, roots

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Gwandu ya nseke, Inhlaba, Inhlula, Kiwandu ki nseke, Madoda, Mutunga-knomo, Uhangwa, Umupfunyantpke, Wontobum, Yellow seed

Synonyms

Crotalaria psoraleoides Lam.; Eriosema cajanoides (Guill. & Perr.) Hook. f.;