Perennial herbs, arising from a woody rhizome. Leaves decussate. Stipule composed of a sheath bearing 3-5 setae. Inflorescence a terminal panicle. Flowers bisexual, male or female, 4(-5)-merous. Calyx vestigial. Corolla (in bisexual and male flowers) with a short, broadly funnel-shaped tube and recurved lobes; corolla much smaller in female flowers. Ovary of 2 carpels; style 0; stigmas 2, long-exserted. Fruit dehiscent, not supported by a carpophore; mericarps tuberculate. Related to Anthospermum and differing in the terminal inflorescence and the absence of a carpophore. Worldwide: 4 species in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa Zimbabwe: 1 taxon. |
|