Annual or perennial herbs, often with woody rootstock
Leaves opposite, often radical, variable in shape and lobing
Flowers aggregated into pedunculate heads, rarely heads sessile; individual flowers or florets bracteate or surrounded by an involucre which is often ciliate
Calyx small, shallowly lobed, usually ciliate, pappus-like
Corolla 4(5)-lobed; tube funnel-shaped, hairy within; lobes often unequal, shorter than tube
Stamens 4(5), arising in corolla throat, exserted; filaments linear, longer than anthers; anthers linear or oblong
Ovary usually ribbed; style included or exserted; stigma linear, thickened, grooved, or unequally 2-lobed
Fruit as for family
x = 9 (5, 8) (B-chromosomes)
Nomenclature:
Cephalaria Schrad.
Schrader: 1, 43 (1818) name conserved
Sonder: 41 (1865)
Von Szabo: 1 (1940)
Napper: 466 (1968)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 60, Mediterranean and Africa
Southern Africa: Species ± 15, all regions except Namibia, Botswana, and Northern Cape
References:
NAPPER, D.M. 1968. Notes on some tropical and South African Dipsacaceae. Kew Bulletin 21
SCHRADER, H. A. 1818. In J.J. Roemer & J.A. Schultes, Caroli a Linné equitis systema vegetabilium etc. 3. J.G. Cotta, Stuttgart
SONDER, W. 1865. Dipsaceae. Flora capensis 3
VON SZABO, Z. 1940. A Cephalaria-génusz monográfiája. Matematikai és Természettudömányi Kozlemények, Budapest 38,4
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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.
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