Herbs, annual or perennial with woody rootstock; with or without stems
Leaves usually in rosettes at apex of stems or at ground level, paripinnate (abortive, terminal leaflet bristle-like), ± sensitive to touch, usually articulated slightly above insertion; leaflets opposite or subopposite, shortly petiolulate or subsessile
Flowers in pseudo-umbels, with bracts forming an involucre
Sepals 5, free, imbricate
Petals 5, contorted, free at first, later coherent and falling together
Stamens 10, 5 longer, 5 shorter, all slightly connate at base
Ovary 5-locular, 5-lobed
Fruit an obovoid, subglobose or ellipsoid, loculicidally dehiscent capsule
Seeds usually tuberculate
x = 9, 10 (1 report each)
Nomenclature:
Biophytum DC.
Candolle: 689 (1824)
Exell: 156 (1963)
Schreiber: 1 (1966)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 8, tropical and subtropical Africa and Madagascar
Southern Africa: Species 2, Namibia
References:
CANDOLLE, A. P. DE. 1824. Prodromus. Part 1. Treuttel & Würtz, Paris
EXELL, 1963. Oxalidaceae. Flora zambesiaca 2
SCHREIBER, A. 1966. Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 63
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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.
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.
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