Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets in 5-12 pairs, elliptic to linear; leaf rachis narrowly to conspicuously winged
Flowers bisexual; in corymbs or panicles
Sepals usually 4, ± fused at base to form a cup-shaped calyx, oblique at base; lobes elliptic
Petals 4, with long, terete claw; limb oblong, hooded at base and with a scale or 3-lobed appendage; red
Disc cup-shaped or flat
Stamens 8, arising in a bundle beneath a fleshy gland at one side of flower where fifth petal is deficient; filaments exserted, subterete, hairy; anthers versatile
Ovary 3-locular, 3-angled, stalked; with 2 ovules in each locule; style short, obtuse
Fruit an inflated, beaked bladder
Seeds usually solitary in each locule, hard, purple or black, ± size of pea
Nomenclature:
Erythrophysa E.Mey. ex Arn.
Arnott: 258 (1841), as Erythrophila
Sonder: 237 (1860)
Hutchinson: 150 (1932)
Verdcourt: 201 (1962)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 5, Africa; 1 species in Ethiopia, 2 species in Madagascar
Southern Africa: Species 2, 1 mainly in dry areas of Namaqualand (Northern Cape) and Free State, the other in Northern Province
References:
ARNOTT, G.A.W. 1841. On some South African plants XIX. Hooker's Journal of Botany 3
HUTCHINSON, J. 1932. XVII. Erythrophysa alata. Kew Bulletin 1932
SONDER, O.W. 1860. Sapindaceae. Flora capensis 1
VERDCOURT, B. 1962. A new species of Erythrophysa E.Mey. ex Arn. (Sapindaceae) from Ethiopia. Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany 58
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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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