Brunfelsia Plum. ex L.

Solanaceae, Jennifer M Edmonds. Oliganthes, Melongena & Monodolichopus, Maria S. Vorontsova & Sandra Knapp. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2012

Habit

Evergreen shrubs or small trees

Leaves

Leaves alternate, simple, hairs usually simple, occasionally branched

Inflorescences

Inflorescences usually dense, rarely lax terminal or axillary many-flowered cymes, or reduced to a single flower, subsessile; pedicels erect or pendent, subtended by linear to lanceolate, caducous bracts; flowers slightly zygomophic with bilateral symmetry

Calyx

Calyx tubular or campanulate, with 5 lobes; usually shorter than corolla tube

Corolla

Corolla hypocrateriform, basal tube cylindrical straight or slightly curved, dilated above towards five broad recurved lobes with quincuncial-imbricate aestivation, open at mouth which often thickened into fleshy white ring

Stamens

Stamens four, didynamous, alternating with upper three corolla lobes, usually included, occasionally upper pair exserted, both pairs curved at apex to project anthers towards back of corolla tube; filaments fused to upper quarter of corolla tube, unequal, lower posterior pair shorter than the upper lateral pair, glabrous, becoming thicker and flattened at point of fusion; anthers usually all fertile, rarely upper pair reduced, elongate, medifixed, oblong or reniform, onecelled dehiscing by single slit

Ovary

Ovary conical to ovoid, bilocular; ovules numerous; disc nectiferous, annular, smooth; style filiform below, erect or curved and broadened beneath the stigma, glabrous, usually included; stigma broadly dilated, shallowly or deeply bilobed or capitate, often surpassed and partially enclosed by upper lateral anthers. Fruit capsular or sub-baccate, fleshy or coriacous, indehiscent or often splitting open by two entire valves, scarcely or partially enclosed by persistent accrescent coriaceous calyx

Seeds

Seeds deeply reticulate, large, few to many.

Note

The history and classification of this genus together with its inter-generic and inter-specific relationships and the distiguishing morphological features are extensively dealt with by Plowman (1998). The presence, location, degree and type of indumentum can vary greatly in this genus, even in the same species. Moreover, Brunfelsia fruits often appear baccate and have been described as berries in numerous taxonomic descriptions of these species. They are, in fact, capsules which are either indehiscent or split into two smooth or rough valves (cf. Plowman, 1998). Some of the diagnostic features given below have been adapted from Plowman (1998), largely due to the paucity of herbarium material of this genus, not only collected from Africa but also from the Americas. ± 46 species of shrubs and small trees from South and Central America, many of which are cultivated for their ornamental and medicinal value.