Flowers bisexual, regular, small, in contracted or capitate cymes; bracts and bracteoles present
Calyx deeply 5-lobed; lobes ovate
Corolla 4- or 5-lobed, somewhat fleshy, yellow; tube funnel-shaped or campanulate; lobes longer than tube, ovate, glandular-pubescent on outer surface
Stamens 4, arising in throat of corolla, included; anthers ovate, with parallel thecae
Ovary superior, 2-carpellate, imperfectly 4-locular, with free-central, ± 4-winged placenta and a single pendent, orthotropous ovule in each locule; densely hirsute; style shorter than ovary, fleshy, conical, bilobed
Fruit a broadly ellipsoid, compressed capsule, opening by 2 (or 4) thick valves
Seed usually solitary by abortion and germinating before fruit drops; endosperm fleshy
Nomenclature:
Avicennia L.
Linnaeus: 110 (1753)
Baker: 331 (1900)
Pearson: 225 (1912)
Moldenke: 149 (1973)
Moldenke & Moldenke: 126 (1983)
Duke: 302 (1991)
Verdcourt: 144 (1992)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 14, mangroves, fairly cosmopolitan in warm estuarine waters
Southern Africa: Species 1: Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh., along the coast of KwaZulu-Natal to Gonubie (Eastern Cape)
References:
BAKER, J.G. 1900. Avicennia. Flora of tropical Africa 5
DUKE, N.C. 1991. A systematic revision of the mangrove genus Avicennia (Avicenniaceae) in Australasia. Australian Systematic Botany 4
LINNAEUS, C. 1753. Species plantarum. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
MOLDENKE, H.N. 1973. Flora of Panama. Family 168A. Avicenniaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 60
MOLDENKE, H.N. & MOLDENKE, A.L. 1983. Avicenniaceae. A revised handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 4. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi
PEARSON, H.H.W. 1912. Avicennia. Flora capensis 5
VERDCOURT, B. 1992. Flora of tropical East Africa. Verbenaceae
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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.
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