Home | > | List of families | > | Rubiaceae | > | Spermacoce | > | chaetocephala |
Synonyms: |
Borreria chaetocephala (DC.) Hepper Borreria compacta (Hiern) K. Schum. Spermacoce compacta Hiern Spermacoce hebecarpa Hochst. ex A.Rich. var. major Hiern Spermacoce kotschyana Oliv. |
Common names: | |
Frequency: | |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Erect mostly sparsely branched annual herb 10–60 cm tall, stems 4-angled, often reddish or pinkish, hairy below the nodes. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 2.5–6 cm long, pubescent or more or less scabrid above with white hairs and with longer white hairs beneath, particularly on the broadened base; stipules with a basal part 1–2 mm long, hairy, with 7 setae up to 1.5 cm long. Flowers congested into axillary heads 0.5–2 cm wide, usually made up of normal axillary clusters together with those at the nodes of much reduced axillary shoots, the whole inflorescence supported by numerous leaves and also with leaves emerging from its centre; bracteoles very numerous, reddish-brown, 3 mm long. Calyx tube 1.4 mm long; lobes 4, linear-lanceolate or slightly spathulate, 1–2 mm long, scabrid on the margins. Corolla white or pale mauve; tube 1.3 mm long; lobes ovate-elliptic, 0.8 mm long. Capsule oblong-ellipsoid, 2.5 mm long, hairy at the apex. |
Notes: | This species is somewhat similar to Spermacoce natalensis which generally is a less robust herb with smaller inflorescences usually one-sided and mostly subtended by a single pair of leaves (rarely 2 pairs in the terminal inflorescence). |
Derivation of specific name: | |
Habitat: | Bushland, woodland and mixed woodland/grassland, sometimes on roadsides. |
Altitude range: (metres) | 690 - 1540 m |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Senegal, Mali, northern Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. |
Zimbabwe distribution: | N,W,C,E |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Friday 18 October 2019 |
Literature: |
Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 74. Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 92. Verdcourt, B. (1988). Rubiaceae, Part 1 Flora Zambesiaca 5(1) Pages 174 - 175. (Includes a picture). |
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