Evergreen, much-branched woody shrubs or undershrubs, branched from a single stem and with a taproot, or branched from a lignotuber at ground level; branchlets longitudinally ridged, tomentose
Leaves opposite-decussate, ericoid or flat, entire, at least ± revolute, linear to lanceolate or obcuneate, acuminate, dull or greyish green, petiolate to nearly sessile; stipules 0
Inflorescences axillary, basically dichasial but congested, subtended by 2 or more bracts, with 2-20 flowers
Flowers bisexual, regular, very small
Tepals 4, small, distinct, calyx-like, externally densely white-hairy, internally glabrous, shiny, suffused pink to dark red, valvate, adnate to ovary
Stamens 8, free, in 2 whorls of 4 each, 4 opposite and attached to tepals at base; filaments linear-lanceolate, incurved; anthers basifixed, with 2 adaxial functional thecae and a pair of abaxial vestigial thecae each; thecae dehiscent by means of lateral slits
Disc epigynous, papillate to shortly hairy
Ovary inferior, 2-carpellate, 1-locular or incompletely 2-locular; ovule solitary in each locule, pendent, anatropous, unitegmic, tenuinucellar, with a long micropyle; placenta free or fused to wall; style erect, straight, unbranched, smooth, with 2 short apical lobes, but appearing simple
Fruit indehiscent, drupaceous, often reddish, with a fleshy exocarp and a sclerenchymatous endocarp, each fruit united with adjacent fruits in an inflorescence, forming a syncarp
STEUDEL, E.G. 1841. Nomenclator botanicus, edn 2. Cotta, Tübingen
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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.
