Description:

• Shrubs or shrublets
• Leaves decussate or alternate, sessile or subsessile, entire, amphistomatic or epistomatic
• Flowers sessile or pedicelled, solitary and terminal or in terminal, indeterminate capitula, or bracteate or ebracteate umbels
• Calyx: hypanthium circumscissile, portion above plane of circumscission cylindrical to cyathiform, rarely cyathiform with a sigmoid curve at base, scales present below stamen attachment, portion below plane of circumscission ovoid to obovoid
• Sepals 4, almost equal to distinctly unequal, petaloid
• Petals 0
• Stamens 8 in 2 whorls of 4, outer whorl exserted, episepalous or arising from or near rim of hypanthium, inner whorl exserted or semi-exserted, arising from rim to thirdway down hypanthium; filaments variable in length; anthers basifixed, introrse, ellipsoid to oblate-spheroid
• Scales 8, exserted or enclosed, in single row below antipetalous stamens
• Disc 0
• Ovary sessile, 1-locular, with single ovule; style arising laterally; stigma either penicillate or conical or capitate and papillate or capitate and elongate-papillate
• Fruit an achene, enclosed in persistent base of hypanthium
• x = 9

Nomenclature:

• Lachnaea L.
  • Linnaeus: 560 (1753)
  • Wright: 18 (1915)
  • Beyers & Van der Walt: 65 (1995)
  • Beyers: 45 (1997)
• Cryptadenia Meisn.
  • Meisner: 404 (1840)
  • Wright: 15 (1915)

Distribution & Notes:

• Southern Africa: Species 30, Northern, Western and Eastern Cape; greatest diversity in Western Cape