Herbs, undershrubs, rarely entirely woody; often with sparse milky juice
Leaves alternate, sometimes radical, opposite or whorled, simple; stipules 0
Flowers bisexual, rarely unisexual by abortion, irregular, solitary and axillary, or in spikes or racemes
Calyx 5-lobed, adnate to ovary
Corolla united, 1- or 2-lipped; lips reversed by a twisting of the pedicel; lobes 5, valvate
Stamens 5, alternate with corolla lobes; filaments free or arising on base of corolla; anthers cohering into a tube around style or rarely free (Cyphia)
Ovary ± inferior, 2-locular, rarely imperfectly divided; ovules 1-many, axile; style simple or 2-lobed, with ring of hairs
Fruit capsular and variably dehiscent
Seeds 1-many, albuminous; embryo straight
Classification Notes:
Lobeliaceae (incl. Cyphiaceae) sometimes classified under Campanulaceae in broad sense
Nomenclature:
Lobeliaceae
Sonder: 530 (1865) under Campanulaceae
Thulin: 116 (1983)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Genera ± 30, species ± 1000; cosmopolitan but mainly tropics and subtropics of the New World
Southern Africa: Genera 5, species ± 134
References:
SONDER, W. 1865. Campanulaceae. Flora capensis 3
THULIN, M. 1983. Lobeliaceae. Flora zambesiaca 7,1
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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.
