Herbs, shrublets or undershrubs, frequently stellate-pubescent, sometimes glandular
Leaves entire, toothed, or pinnatifid; stipules often foliaceous, rarely 0
Flowers axillary and solitary or 2-nate or in terminal pseudoracemes or panicles
Calyx 5-lobed; tube globose to campanulate
Petals 5, obovate or oblong, sessile or clawed, spirally twisted; claw with infolded margin
Stamens 5, opposite petals, longer or shorter than ovary; filaments connate at base, sometimes almost free, linear with broad, membranous wings or somewhat cruciform; anthers mostly lanceolate, slightly or distinctly 2-lobed at apex
Ovary sessile or shortly stalked, 5-lobed, 5-locular, with few to many ovules in each locule, hairy; styles 5(1), capitate
Fruit a 5-locular, loculicidal capsule, sometimes horned
Global: Species ± 180, tropical Africa 11 species, plus ± 30 southern Africa species extending into that region, American species 3, and 1 or more in Australia, ± 162 in southern Africa
Southern Africa: The subgenera Hermannia with ± 94 and Mahernia with ± 68 species, in all countries and provinces
References:
DE WINTER, B. 1974. The identity of some species of Hermannia represented in the Thunberg, Bergius and Cavanilles Herbaria. Bothalia 11
FRIEDRICH-HOLZHAMMER, M., MERXMÜLLER, H. & ROESSLER, H. 1969. Sterculiaceae. Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 84
LINNAEUS, C. 1753. Species plantarum. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
LINNAEUS, C. 1767. Systema naturae edn 12,2. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
VERDOORN, I.C. 1980. Revision of Hermannia subgenus Hermannia in southern Africa. Bothalia 13
WILD, H. 1961. Sterculiaceae. Flora zambesiaca 1
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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.
The system is still under development, so you may find a few bugs/issues. If you do, please report it via the error reporting button available in various sections of the website or provide us with any useful feedback you may have via the ‘Give us feedback’ option available in the sidebar menu. You can create a free account for yourself by clicking on the user profile icon which will take you through to the login page. Here you can choose the ‘Create an account’ option or simply fill in your details if you have an account already. Having an account on Biodiversity Advisor will provide users with free access to biodiversity resources.
In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
