Lonchocarpus
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Lonchocarpus
a genus of plants of the family Leguminosae. They are trees, climbing shrubs, or woody lianas. The leaves are alternate and odd-pinnate, and the flowers are violet, purple, or white, growing in racemes or panicles. There are as many as 150 species in the tropics of America, Africa, and Australia. Some species yield valuable wood. A blue dye is obtained from the leaves and young sprouts of L. cyanescens (from tropical West Africa). The roots of L. utilis and L. urucu, which grow in South America, are used to obtain a poison that is used as an insecticide.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.