Eriocephalus luederitzianus
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Image 1
Flowers
13 Dec 2008
Image 2
Leaves
13 Dec 2008
Image 3
Habit
03 Mar 2009
Image 4
Leaves
03 Mar 2009
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Full name: | Eriocephalus luederitzianus O.Hoffm. |
| ID status: | ID not 100% certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Kapokbos |
| English common name(s): | - |
| Synonym(s): | Eriocephalus eenii S.Moore Eriocephalus hirsutus Burtt Davy Eriocephalus pubescens auct. - sensu Merxm. Eriocephalus squarrosus Muschl. |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Erect, many-stemmed, sparsely branched shrubs, 300-500 mm tall. Old stems dark brown, rough, deeply grooved, displaying anomalous secondary growth; bark yellow brown to dark brown; young branches smooth, yellow-white, densely white sericeous; older branchlets yellow-brown, superficially grooved, sparsely hairy; brachyblasts short, up to 10 mm long. Leaves alternate, densely imbricate, those on young shoots 4-25 x 0.5-1.0 mm, those on brachyblasts linear, 3-6 x 0.5-1.0 mm, entire, permanently densely appressed silver-grey sericeous, adaxially basally concave, abaxially convex, distally semiterete to cylindrical, apex obtuse, base semi-amplexicaul. Capitula heterogamous disciform, mostly terminal, racemose or umbellate racemose, also solitary, terminal on brachyblasts, 4-8 x 4-6 mm; peduncles 2-16 mm long, appressed sericeous. Involucral bracts 4 or 5, ovate, flattened, 3 X 1.5 mm, central part green, herbaceous with narrow membranous, colourless to purple margin, abaxially permanently appressed sericeous. Paleae: those of marginal florets free, keeled, lanceolate, 2.5 x 1.0 mm, abaxially long-pilose/lanate, hairs septate, apex fringed; those of disc florets oblong to linear, transparent, membranous, 1-2 x 0.5 mm, abaxially lanate, adaxially smooth, apex fringed. Marginal female florets 2-5, indistinct, 2.5-3.0 mm long; corolla yellow, tubular, narrowed at throat, sometimes with very short lamina, scarcely 0.5 mm long, much shorter than branched style. Style branches flattened, linear, 1-2 mm long, apices acute. Ovary (and cypsela) oblong-ovoid, slightly flattish, trigonous, at maturity densely lanate. Seed flattish, trigonous, 1-2 mm long. Disc florets 14-28, functionally male with sterile ovary, yellow, 3 mm long; corolla tube 5-toothed. Stamens (4)5, well exserted at maturity. Style unbranched, apex globose, with sweeping hairs. Receptacle after anthesis densely white or tawny lanate between paleae of marginal florets and involucral bracts. Chromosome number: In = 36. Flowering time: October to May with a peak from January to March. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Southern Africa) During good rainy seasons E. ambiguus tends to form long, drooping shoots without spines and with long leaves similar to E. luederitianus instead of the typical spinescent habit with rigid branches and very short leaves. (from Flora of Southern Africa) Terminale groeipunt nie omvorm tot stingeldoring, Blare spiraalgewys (nie teenoorstaande), Blare nie veersnydig, blomme wit of geel, Blare nie-sukkulent, linieêr, effens driehoekig, lintblomme met onopvallende tongvormige gedeelte, Blare permanent syagtig behaar. (from MAN Müller PhD thesis, 1988) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
