A dwarf, mystery plant.

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We just finished breakfast at the ranch of our friends from Nueva Vizcaya, Pete and Marlyn McKee, when I caught glimpse of tiny pink flowers sprouting from diminutive plants around a row of cassava. Closer inspection revealed these to be leguminous plants from the family Fabaceae, and promptly took photos for a later attempt on identification. The plants were lilliputian in size- one plant fits easily on a tablespoon. The pods were minuscule, each bearing a single seed.



A colony of the mystery legumes.



When we got back home, I searched the Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines website for answers but came out empty handed. A asked Pieter Pelser, who manages the website, if he knows what this could be, but his reply was in the negative. Some genera on the list were not represented with photos and it may be that the plant we have here belongs to one of the more obscure Philippine representatives; I regret that I know so little about legumes. If any of you can give me a lead, do not hesitate to inform me!

A curious feature of these plants is the glandular trichomes on the rachis, which is quite similar to those found on Cuphea carthagenensis, a plant I have frequently observed to capture tiny bugs. Of course, when we talk of such hairs, we'll be amiss if we don't mention the truly carnivorous Drosera. I did not, however, found any unfortunate victim on these legumes.


See the hairs on the inflorescence?

Let's admit it: these plants are pretty. I did collect some seeds and placed them inside a pocket of my pants, but for some reason (most likely negligence), I lost them. Oh well...

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