Legumes of Africa. A check-list. 1989. VII,619 p. gr8vo. Paper bd.

The family Leguminosae contains many species of economic importance inAfrica. Many tropical timbers originate from leguminous rain-foresttrees. In the drier zones, many members of the family are importantforage plants, and others yield useful gums. In the Mediterraneanclimatic zones at the north and south of the continent, members of thefamily are often important constituents of dry scrublands, providinganimal browse as well as being attractive components of the landscape. Afew species are valuable food crops, and many more are cultivated asornamentals. Recent floras, and revisions of some of the larger genera,have brought our knowledge of African legumes to a state where acheck-list provides a valuable summary of current information andhighlights objectives for further work. The International LegumeDatabase and Information Service project has provided the stimulus tothe compilation of this list, which covers the whole of mainland Africa,Zanzibar, Pemba, Socotra, the Cape Verde Islands and the islands of theGulf of Guinea. The available information is presented for all 5825 taxa(species and subspecies).