Twining or scrambling, herbaceous subsucculent vines; roots often thickened; stems smooth, glabrous, producing axillary, subterranean to aerial tubers up to 25 mm thick
Leaves slightly fleshy, often tinged with red, shortly to distinctly petiolate
Inflorescences axillary or terminal panicles or racemes, with many small, pedicellate flowers in axils of small bracts; bracteoles subtending flower distinctly developed, persistent or deciduous, ± thin, triangular to broadly ovate, free or sometimes connate at base, ± entire
Flowers bisexual or functionally unisexual, chasmogamous, fragrant
Sepals ± adnate to floral cup, sometimes ± strongly keeled, slightly shorter than petals, patent to erect, rhombic or rounded ovate to elliptic, free, adnate to petals at base
Petals with 1-3 ± distinct veins, patent to erect, small, thin to fleshy, connate only at base, spreading at maturity, white or yellowish to reddish
Stamens free to base or shortly connate, opposite and inserted on petal bases; filaments filiform or subulate, recurved in bud; anthers oblong, versatile
Ovary globose to pyriform; ovule 1, subsessile; style 1, 3-partite up to about middle, with clavate to capitate stigmas
Fruit a nutlet, smooth, partly or completely enclosed by persistent dry perianth
Seed erect, lenticular, with crustaceous seedcoat; embryo semi-annular
x = 12 (1 report)
Nomenclature:
*Anredera Juss.
Jussieu: 84 (1789)
Hooker: 78 (1880)
Volkens: 128 (1893)
Ulbrich: 271 (1934)
Bogle: 590 (1969)
Sperling & Bittrich: 146 (1993)
Eriksson: 67 (1996)
Boussingaultia Kunth
Kunth: 194, t. 645 (1825)
Tandonia Moq.
Moquin-Tandon: 226 (1849)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 10-15, from S Florida and Texas to Argentina, the majority of species occurring in northern South America
Southern Africa: Cultivated as ornamentals and 1 naturalised: * Anredera cordifolia (Ten.) Steenis, locally a noxious invader
References:
BOGLE, A.L. 1969. The genera of Portulacaceae and Basellaceae in the southeastern United States. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 50
ERIKSSON, R. 1996. Basellaceae. Flora of Ecuador 55
HOOKER, J.D. 1880. Chenopodiaceae. In G. Bentham & J.D. Hooker, Genera plantarum 3,1. Lovell Reeve & Co., London
JUSSIEU, A.L. DE. 1789. Atriplices, les Arroches. Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita. Herissant & Barrois, Paris
KUNTH, C.S. 1825. Chenopodeae Ceand. In A. de Humboldt, A. Bonpland & C.S. Kunth, Nova genera et species plantarum 7. Libraria Graeco-Latino-Germanica, Paris
MOQUIN-TANDON, C.H.B.A. 1849. Chenopodiaceae. In A.P. de Candolle, Prodromus 13. Treuttel & Würtz, Paris
SPERLING, C.R. & BITTRICH, V. 1993. Basellaceae. In K. Kubitzki, J.G. Rohwer & V. Bittrich, The families and genera of vascular plants - dicotyledons 2. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
ULBRICH, O.E. 1934. Basellaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 2,16c
VOLKENS, G. 1893. Basellaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 3,1a
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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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