Geophytic suffrutescent herbs or sometimes climbers; latex white; root tuber turnip-shaped to cylindric; underground stems perennial; aerial stems annual, twining, erect or procumbent. Leaves simple, opposite, blades sometimes leathery. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, few- to many-flowered. Corolla tube campanulate to cylindric, inner face fluted; lobes ovate. Follicles paired or single. Seeds ovate with a ring of hairs. Comment: Raphionacme brownii Scott-Elliot is NOT considered to be a Zimbabwean species. Worldwide: 36 species in Africa with one in Arabia. Zimbabwe: 18 taxa. |