e-Key v3 - Andrachne
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Interactive keys to the identification of seed plants of southern Africa using keys based on plant morphology.

Euphorbiaceae - Phyllanthoideae - Phyllantheae - Andrachne L.

Description :

  • Herbs, undershrubs, or shrubs; monoecious
  • Leaves alternate; stipulate
  • Flowers often in axillary fascicles (male) and solitary (female)
  • Male flowers : sepals and petals 5(6); petals membranous, subequalling sepals; disc saucer-shaped, crenulate; stamens 5(6), free or subconnate at base; anthers subglobose; ovary rudimentary
  • Female flowers : sepals and petals as in male; disc saucer-shaped, crenulate; ovary 3-locular, with 2 ovules in each locule; styles bifid or bipartite
  • Fruit a 3-lobed capsule; endocarp thinly woody
  • Seeds ± 3-angled, somewhat wrinkled, ecarunculate; albumen fleshy; embryo curved, radicle long, cotyledons broad and flat
  • x = 12 (11) (polyploidy)

Nomenclature:

  • Andrachne L.
    • Linnaeus: 1014 (1753)
    • Hutchinson: 385 (1915)
    • Webster: 42 (1994)
    • Radcliffe-Smith: 27 (1996)

Distribution & Notes:

  • Global : Species 15, mainly in warm parts of northern hemisphere
  • Southern Africa : Species 1: Andrachne ovalis Müll.Arg.; Northern Province, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern and Western Cape (near George)

References:

  • HUTCHINSON, J. 1915. Euphorbiaceae [in part]. Flora capensis 5, 2
  • LINNAEUS, C. 1753. Species plantarum , edn 1. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
  • RADCLIFFE-SMITH, A. 1996. Euphorbiaceae . Flora zambesiaca 9, 4
  • WEBSTER, G.L. 1994. Synopsis of the genera and suprageneric taxa of Euphorbiaceae . Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 81