Leaves usually verticillate below, alternate above, narrow, sessile, entire
Flowers in terminal, bracteate racemes or spikes, rarely solitary in leaf axils
Calyx deeply 5-lobed, equal or unequal, posterior lobe usually longest, very rarely shortest
Corolla tubular, bilabiate, 5-lobed, usually glabrous except for palate; tube ± cylindrical, with conical or cylindrical spur on anterior side at base; lips ± equal, posterior lip 2-lobed, ± patent, exterior in bud; anterior lip 3-lobed, spreading to patent with prominent, pubescent basal palate occluding corolla mouth, or only partly so
Ovary equally or unequally bilocular; ovules many; style simple or bifid; stigma various
Fruit an oblong, ovoid or globose capsule, walls papery, septum erect, straight; locules dehiscing by several irregular, meridional fissures from apex towards base
Seeds oblong-orbicular to suborbicular, winged, tuberculate
Global: Species ± 150, temperate Europe, Asia (not SE) and North Africa; widely naturalised in temperate regions
Southern Africa: Species 1: *Linaria vulgaris Mill., scattered as a weed mainly in eastern half (Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Western and Eastern Cape); others occur as sporadic garden escapes
MILLER, P. 1754. The gardener's dictionary, abridged edn 4, 2. Rivington, London
SUTTON, D.A. 1988. A revision of the tribe Antirrhineae: 260, 272. British Museum (Natural History), London
WELLS, M.J., BALSINHAS, A.A., JOFFE, H., ENGELBRECHT, V.M., HARDING, G. & STIRTON, C.H. 1986. A catalogue of problem plants in southern Africa. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa No. 53
Copyright of the content hosted by this website remains with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), unless stated otherwise. Material from this site may be used in other media, provided that SANBI is acknowledged by the name South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) or refer to the 'How to cite this resource' paragraph on the Home page. Liability disclaimer: Visitors use this site at their own risk and SANBI is not liable for any of the consequences resulting therefrom.
Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
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.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
The system is still under development, so you may find a few bugs/issues. If you do, please report it via the error reporting button available in various sections of the website or provide us with any useful feedback you may have via the ‘Give us feedback’ option available in the sidebar menu. You can create a free account for yourself by clicking on the user profile icon which will take you through to the login page. Here you can choose the ‘Create an account’ option or simply fill in your details if you have an account already. Having an account on Biodiversity Advisor will provide users with free access to biodiversity resources.
In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
