Robust herbs, undershrubs or shrubs with herbaceous branches, rarely woody
Leaves ovate or elliptic, usually petiolate
Inflorescence terminal or axillary, thyrsoid or spicate; bracts and bracteoles small, lanceolate or spatulate-obovate, sometimes enclosing calyx
Calyx regular, hairy or with stalked glands; lobes 5, lanceolate; tube shorter than lobes
Corolla 2-lipped, glabrous or hairy; upper lip shortly 2-lobed, rugula distinct; lower lip shortly 3-lobed, usually with a distinct keel on back and 2 raised ridges on palate; aestivation ascending; tube shorter than lobes, subcampanulate
Androecium: fertile stamens 2, arising near base of corolla tube or in upper cylindric portion, subexserted; filaments terete; anthers 2-thecous; thecae superposed and usually clearly separated with upper theca usually attached at right angles to filament, muticous; staminodes 0
Pollen spheroidal, 3-porate; surface reticulate
Disc annular, unusually large
Gynoecium: ovary with 1 or 2 ovules in each locule, ellipsoid; style terete, subexserted, or filiform and exserted, running in rugula; style branches 2, equal, very short, broader than long
Capsule ellipsoid, stipitate, with inelastic placental bases
Seeds ± quadrate, surface rough and convolute or rugose
Nomenclature:
Isoglossa Oerst.
Oersted: 155 (1854)
Clarke: 79 (1901)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 50, Old World tropics
Southern Africa: Species 15, Swaziland, Lesotho and mainly northern and eastern provinces of South Africa
OERSTED, A.S. 1854. Mexicos og Centralamerikas acanthaceer. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk naturhistorisk Forening i Kjobenhavn 6
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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.
