Expanding keels extending from central axis of capsule to tips of valves
Mesembryanthemum type
b
Seeds/funicles ± parietal, rarely axile (Caryotophora, Hymenogyne) but then fruits schizocarpic
Expanding keels not extending to central axis or absent
a
Valve wings narrow or absent, or fruits schizocarpic or fleshy and indehiscent
Closing bodies present or represented by bunches of sterile funicular hairs
b
Valve wings broad
Closing bodies absent or large, or sometimes developed from a broad base in the shape of a ledge, boss or bracket; or represented by bunches of funicular hairs
a
Covering membranes absent or fruit schizocarpic
Apatesia type
b
Covering membranes well developed or fruit fleshy and indehiscent
a
Closing bodies small, rod-shaped
Ruschia type
b
Closing bodies absent but represented by bunches of sterile funicular hairs
Lampranthus type
a
Expanding keels ± in the form of broad, ± flat sheets and appressed to valves
Mitrophyllum type
b
Expanding keels markedly raised, not merging into expanding sheets
a
Closing bodies large, distinctly stalked, often whitish
Capsule often with 10 or more locules
Leipoldtia type
b
Closing bodies absent, or small, or represented by bunches of sterile funicular hairs
Capsules seldom with up to 10 locules
a
Expanding keels parallel, radial
Delosperma type
b
Expanding keels divergent
a
Exits of locules blocked by bunches of funicular hairs
Lampranthus type
b
Exits of locules without closing devices
a
Covering membranes flat
Drosanthemum type
b
Covering membranes with boundaries of central parts slightly raised into ridges
Margins of distal parts bent into locules
Titanopsis type
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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.