Inflorescence axillary; dichasial cymes or solitary flowers; pedicels present or very short; bracts resembling leaves; bracteoles 0
Calyx lobes 4; subregular; tube shorter than lobes
Corolla 2-lipped, subregular or irregular; upper lip 2-lobed, with lobes recurved, sometimes bifid, rugula distinct; lower lip 3-lobed, with lobes strongly reflexed; aestivation imbricate; tube longer than lobes, cylindric below, widening above, sometimes somewhat saccate on widened portion
Androecium: fertile stamens 4; filaments didynamous, arising in pairs, usually broadly linear, sometimes with coarse setae, arising ± in middle of corolla tube or in mouth or on base of upper lip; anthers 2-thecous; thecae parallel, muticous; staminodes 0
Disc deeply cupular
Gynoecium: ovary oblong or linear-oblong, with 10-13 ovules in each locule; style terete-filiform, ± exserted, running in rugula; style branch 1; ventral lobe flattened
Capsule linear or linear-oblong, estipitate, with inelastic placental bases
Pollen prolate, 3-colporate, with many pseudocolpi; surface reticulate
Seeds compressed, with hygroscopic hairs over whole surface
x = 16 (11, 17) (polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Hygrophila R.Br. emend. Heine
Brown: 479 (1810)
Heine: 171 (1962)
Heine: 656 (1971)
Asteracantha Nees
Nees von Esenbeck: 75 (1832)
Hemigraphis Nees
Nees van Esenbeck: 722 (1847) in part
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 100, tropics generally
Southern Africa: Species 9, N Namibia and Botswana, Swaziland and eastern provinces of South Africa
References:
BROWN, R. 1810. Hygrophila, Hypoestes, Nelsonia. Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae. J. Johnson & Co., London
HEINE, H. 1962. Tropical African plants: xxvi. Some West African Acanthaceae. Kew Bulletin 16
HEINE, H. 1971. Notes sur les Acanthacées africaines. Adansonia ser. 2,11,4
NEES VON ESENBECK, C.G.D. 1832. Acanthaceae indiae orientalis. In N.Wallich, Plantae asiaticae rariores 3. Treuttel & Würtz, London
NEES VON ESENBECK, C.G.D. 1847. Acanthaceae. In A. de Candolle, Prodromus 11. Treuttel & Würtz, Paris
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.
