Flowers
bisexual, in terminal or axillary cymose clusters; pedicels bracteate
Calyx
campanulate or inflated, shortly 5-lobed
Petals
5, usually obovate or oblong-spathulate, marcescent
Stamens
5, sometimes coherent with petals at base; filaments ± connate
Ovary
sessile or stipitate, 5-locular; ovules 2 per locule; styles 5, free or connate at base
Fruit
a loculicidal, 5-valved capsule; locules 1-seeded
Seeds
ascending; embryo straight, with some endosperm, cotyledons flat
x = 9 (7, 23) (polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Melochia
L.
Linnaeus: 674 (1753)
Linnaeus: 304 (1754)
Wild: 535 (1961)
Distribution & Notes:
Global
: Species 54, widely distributed through the tropical regions of the Old World
Southern Africa
: Species 1:
Melochia corchorifolia
L., often a weed of cultivation in Botswana
References:
LINNAEUS, C. 1753.
Species plantarum
. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
LINNAEUS, C. 1754.
Genera plantarum
. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
WILD, H. 1961.
Sterculiaceae
.
Flora zambesiaca
1
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Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
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