5538.000 Combretum Loefl.

Description of the genus

Trees, shrubs, or woody climbers. Leaves opposite, whorled, subopposite or rarely alternate, usually entire; petiole sometimes persisting and forming a ± hooked spine. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, 4-5-merous. Calyx 4-5 (rarely more). Petals usually 4-5, variously coloured. Stamens twice as many as petals, in 1 or 2 series. Ovary inferior. Fruit 4-5-winged. A generally recognisable genus but Schrebera trichoclada in leaf looks very similar. The flowers of many species resemble those of willows (Salix species), hence their common name of Bushwillow.

Worldwide: 250 species in the tropics, excluding Australia

Zimbabwe: 5 cultivated taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Coeliades forestan (Striped policeman) Food plant
Coeliades pisistratus (Two-pip policeman) Larval foodplant
Hemerophanes Hemerophanes libyra (Variegated Vapourer) Larval food plant
Pseudaphelia apollinaris (Apollo moth) Food plant
Trabala charon Larval foodplant
Combretum bracteosum

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
bracteosum (Hochst.) BrandisImage
elaeagnoides KlotzschDescription, Image
erythrophyllum (Burch.) Sond.Description, Image
fruticosum (Loefl.) StuntzImage
kraussii Hochst.Description, Image

Other sources of information about Combretum:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Combretum
Flora of Caprivi: Combretum
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Combretum
Flora of Malawi: Combretum
Flora of Mozambique: Combretum
Flora of Zambia: Combretum
Flora of Zimbabwe: Combretum

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Combretum
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Combretum
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Combretum
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Combretum
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Combretum
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Combretum
JSTOR Plant Science: Combretum
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Combretum
Plants of the World Online: Combretum
Tropicos: Combretum
Wikipedia: Combretum

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants: genus page: Combretum.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/genus.php?genus_id=1007, retrieved 29 March 2024

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