Flowers bisexual, in terminal or axillary cymose clusters; pedicels bracteate
Calyx campanulate or inflated, shortly 5-lobed
Petals 5, usually obovate or oblong-spathulate, marcescent
Stamens 5, sometimes coherent with petals at base; filaments ± connate
Ovary sessile or stipitate, 5-locular; ovules 2 per locule; styles 5, free or connate at base
Fruit a loculicidal, 5-valved capsule; locules 1-seeded
Seeds ascending; embryo straight, with some endosperm, cotyledons flat
x = 9 (7, 23) (polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Melochia L.
Linnaeus: 674 (1753)
Linnaeus: 304 (1754)
Wild: 535 (1961)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 54, widely distributed through the tropical regions of the Old World
Southern Africa: Species 1: Melochia corchorifolia L., often a weed of cultivation in Botswana
References:
LINNAEUS, C. 1753. Species plantarum. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
LINNAEUS, C. 1754. Genera plantarum. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
WILD, H. 1961. Sterculiaceae. Flora zambesiaca 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.
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