Inflorescences terminal on slender main and lateral branches, spike-like; flowers shortly pedicellate, in usually 2-6-flowered verticils; bracts much smaller than leaves, persistent
Calyx bilabiate, somewhat declinate, accrescent; tube campanulate, 5-toothed; upper tooth the largest, ovate, slightly decurrent, two lateral teeth lanceolate, subulate
Corolla small, obscurely bilabiate; tube short; upper lip short and broad, 4-lobed; lower lip oblong, nearly flat, entire
Stamens 4, didynamous, declinate; filaments not kneed or crested near base; anthers 1-thecous
Nutlets ovoid, somewhat compressed, smooth, pale brown
x = 7 (1 report) (polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Basilicum Moench
Moench: 143 (1802)
Morton: 238 (1962)
Codd: 217 (1985)
Moschosma Rchb.
Reichenbach: 171 (1828)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 7, in tropical regions of the Old World
Southern Africa: Species 1: Basilicum polystachyon (L.) Moench is recorded from the eastern lowveld of Mpumalanga, Swaziland and N KwaZulu-Natal
References:
CODD, L.E. 1985. Lamiaceae. Flora of southern Africa 28
MOENCH, C. 1802. Supplementum ad methodum plantas. Nova libraria academiae, Marburg
MORTON, J.K. 1962. Cytotaxonomic studies on the West African Labiatae. Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany 58
REICHENBACH, H.G.L. 1828. Conspectus regni vegetabilis. Cnobloch, Leipzig
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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.
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