Perennial, suffruticose or subherbaceous from a woody base, erect or diffuse, with a strong taproot
Leaves opposite, subopposite or alternate, simple or divided
Inflorescence cymose, paniculate or sometimes reduced to a single flower and then with monochasial development
Calyx persistent, united at base, with 5-10 lobes; lobes sometimes cleft
Corolla united; tube usually half length of lobes, usually pilose within at insertion of stamens; lobes usually 5, imbricate; yellow, often with reddish tinge
Stamens 2; filaments arising on tube and decurrent to its base, free above and exserted; anthers attached near base, erect, oblong
Ovary 2-lobed, 2-locular; ovules 2-4 in each locule, collateral, attached ± midway to wall of partition
Fruit a bilocular capsule, with circumscissile dehiscence, usually both cocci developing
Seeds 1-4 in a coccus, reticulated; without endosperm
x = 11 (polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Menodora Bonpl.
Bonpland: 98, t. 110 (1809)
Harvey: 483 (1906/1907)
Verdoorn: 125 (1963)
Kupicha: 318 (1983)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 25, America and southern Africa
Southern Africa: Species 3, widespread
References:
BONPLAND, A.J.A. 1809. Menodora. In F.W.H.A. Humboldt & A.J.A. Bonpland, Plantae aequinoctiales 2. F. Schoell, Paris
VERDOORN, I.C. 1963. Oleaceae. Flora of southern Africa 26
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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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