Leaves alternate, entire to deeply lobed; stipules 0
Inflorescence a spicate raceme, sharply delimited, not leafy, ± conspicuously pedunculate
Flowers usually strongly irregular, borne in axils of much reduced upper leaves (bracts), opening either near sunset or near sunrise and fading within a day
Sepals 4, caducous; floral tube present, long and narrow
Petals 4, white, usually sharply clawed, entire
Stamens 8; anthers linear, sporogenous tissue divided by sterile tissue into discrete packets; pollen shed singly
Ovary with 1 or 2 ovules in each locule; stigma deeply 4-lobed
Capsule indehiscent, nut-like, with hard, woody walls, septa incomplete and fragile, not evident at maturity
Seeds ovoid, yellowish to pale brown
x = 7 (high polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
*Gaura L.
Linnaeus: 347 (1753)
Linnaeus: 163 (1754)
Goldblatt & Raven: 156 (1997)
Gauridium Spach
Spach: 379 (1835a)
Schizocarya Spach
Spach: 325, 381 (1835b)
Spach: 170, 283 (1835c)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 21, North America, centring in the Great Plains and Texas
Southern Africa: Species 2, naturalised, North-West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State, Western and Eastern Cape
LINNAEUS, C. 1753. Species plantarum. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
LINNAEUS, C. 1754. Genera plantarum, edn 5. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
SPACH, E. 1835a. Histoire naturelle des végétaux 4. Librairie encyclopédique de Roret, Paris
SPACH, E. 1835b. Synopsis monographiae Onagrearum. Nouvelles Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, 4 sér. 2
SPACH, E. 1835c. Onagrearum novarum vel minus notarum descriptiones. Nouvelles Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelles, 4 sér. 2
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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.
