Gagnebina commersoniana

Flowers and fruits of Gagnebina commersoniana (Image: Gwilym Lewis)

Gagnebina commersoniana is native to Madagascar, where it occurs in Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga and Toliara provinces.

It grows in thickets, secondary vegetation, shrubby savannah and dry woodlands and on limestone, sand, gneiss or lateritic soils.

There is also a variety, Gagnebina commersoniana var. aldabrensis, on the island of Aldabra.

Herbarium specimen of Gagnebina commersoniana

Overview: Small shrub up to 3 m tall. Leaves are bipinnate (divided into pinnae that are themselves divided again into leaftets).

Flowers: Flowers are borne in distinct clusters. Lower flowers are sterile, with white or pale pink staminodes (sterile male organs that do not bear pollen). Pale yellow upper flowers are bisexual. However, the inflorescences are pendent so the sterile, showy staminodal flowers are displayed uppermost.

Fruits and seeds: Pods (fruits) are narrowly oblong to oblong (elongated with parallel sides). Seeds are olive-brown, 3.0×1.5 mm, with a central, open pleurogram (a u-shaped line on both lateral faces of the seed).

Gagnebina commersoniana is widespread and common in Madagascar. No major threats are known, and populations are believed to be stable at present. Gagnebina commersoniana seeds are stored in the Millennium Seed Bank as an ex situ conservation measure.

Gagnebina commersoniana is being monitored as part of the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants project, which aims to produce conservation assessments for a representative sample of the world’s plant species. This information will then be used to monitor trends in extinction risk and help focus conservation efforts where they are needed most.

Learn more about some of the plants that were assessed as part of this project

Use Kew's interactive map and charts to explore the state of plant life around the world and find out more about plants at risk

Gagnebina commersoniana is used in the production of paper in Madagascar.

The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership aims to save plant life worldwide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.

Nine collections of Gagnebina commersoniana seeds are held in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank based at Wakehurst in West Sussex.

See Kew’s Seed Information Database for further information on Gagnebina commersoniana seeds.

Gagnebina commersoniana is grown in Kew’s behind-the-scenes Tropical Nursery.

Pressed and dried specimens of Gagnebina commersoniana are held in Kew’s Herbarium, where they are available to researchers from around the world, by appointment. The details of some of these, including images, can be seen online in Kew’s Herbarium Catalogue.

Search Kew’s science databases for more information on Gagnebina commersoniana

More about the legume family (Leguminosae)

Kew’s Leguminosae science team

Buy Legumes of the World

Buy The Leguminosae of Madagascar

JSTOR Plant Science – Gagnebina commersoniana

Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar – Gagnebina commersoniana