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  1. Family: Plantaginaceae Juss.
    1. Genus: Stemodia L.

      1. Stemodia serrata (Hochst.) Benth.

        This species is accepted, and its native range is W. Tropical Africa to NW. Ethiopia and Zambia, Madagascar, India.

    [FWTA]

    Scrophulariaceae, F. N. Hepper. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

    Habit
    An erect, much branched viscid glandular-pubescent aromatic herb, 6-12 in. high
    Flowers
    Flowers yellow or white.
    [FZ]

    Scrophulariaceae, D. Philcox. Flora Zambesiaca 8:2. 1990

    Habit
    Erect, much-branched herb, 15–35 cm. tall, strongly viscid, foetid, glandular-pubescent throughout to varying degrees.
    Leaves
    Leaves 15–50 x 6–20 mm., oblong to lanceolate, acute or obtuse, narrowed at base or broader, semi-amplexicaul, coarsely serrate.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence with flowers crowded into leafy spike-like raceme; pedicels about 1 mm. long; bracts 2, to about 3.25 x 0.2 mm., somewhat ciliate, narrowly linear.
    Calyx
    Calyx 4.5–6.5 mm. long, lobes 3.5–5.5 x 0.5–1.2 mm., narrowly linear-lanceolate, acuminate.
    Corolla
    Corolla about 5.5–6.5 mm. long, upper lip emarginate, lower lip trilobed, lobes rounded to somewhat emarginate, yellowish- or greenish-white.
    Filaments
    Filaments 2.0–2.8 mm. long, slender.
    Ovary
    Ovary 1.5 mm. long, 0.75 mm. in diam., narrowly conical.
    Style
    Style 1.5 mm. long, somewhat arcuate at apex.
    Fruits
    Capsule about 5.5 mm. long, narrowly oblong in outline, 4-furrowed.
    [FTEA]

    Scrophulariaceae, S.A. Ghazanfar, F.N. Hepper & D. Philcox. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2008

    Conservation
    Least Concern (LC)
    Note
    This and other species of Stemodia are often mistaken for members of the Labiatae with which they have a superficial resemblance; the bilocular ovary is distinctive. In East Africa only S. serrata Benth. has been reported, yet S. verticillata (Mill.) Boldingh (syn. S. parviflora Ait.), an American species with blue flowers and globose capsules occurs as a creeping weed in West Africa, Mauritius and Java, and it may well be found in our region.
    Type
    Types: Senegal [Senegambia], 1828, Leprieur, s.n.; Perrottet, 447, 448 & 575 (G, syn.)
    Habit
    Erect simple or usually much-branched herb, 12–32(–37) cm high.
    Branches
    branches ± erect, 4-angled, glandular-pubescent, viscid with a foetid scent
    Leaves
    Leaves narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, 0.5–5 cm long, 3–15 mm wide, narrowed to base or amplexicaul, acute at apex, margins serrate from the middle to the apex, finely glandular-pubescent
    Flowers
    Flowers solitary in axils forming a leafy spike-like raceme; pedicels 1–3 mm long; bracteoles 2 at the base of the calyx, narrowly linear, ± 3 mm long, ciliate
    Calyx
    Calyx ± 5 mm long in fruit, shorter in flower, lobes subulate-linear, acuminate, finely glandular-pubescent
    Corolla
    Corolla white, ± 6 mm long, upper lip emarginate, lower lip broadly and shortly 3-lobed
    Fruits
    Capsule 5–6 mm, narrow, acuminate, almost as long as the calyx, glabrous
    Figures
    Fig 14, p 37
    Ecology
    Moist, grassy places, flood plains, drying out during dry season; 50–1100 m
    Distribution
    Flora districts: K7 T5 T6 T8 Range: Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Chad, Cameroon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi, Madagascar, India, widely distributed but probably overlooked in our area
    [FTEA]
    Use
    None recorded on specimens from our area

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia

    Stemodia serrata (Hochst.) Benth. appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Stocks, J.E. [s.n.], India K000979385
    K000379589
    Kotschy [521], Ethiopia K000379584
    Kotschy [421], Ethiopia K000379585
    Kotschy [226] K000379588
    Kotschy [199] K000379587
    Guillemin [3], Senegal K000379591
    [Law] [s.n.] K000379586

    First published in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 381 (1846)

    Accepted by

    • Onana, J.M. (2011). The vascular plants of Cameroon a taxonomic checklist with IUCN assessments: 1-195. National herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
    • Ghazanfar, S.A., Hepper, F.N. & Philcox, D. (2008). Flora of Tropical East Africa, Scrophulariaceae: 1-211.
    • Hedberg, I., Kelbessa, E., Edwards, S., Demissew, S. & Persson, E. (eds.) (2006). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 5: 1-690. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia & The Department of Systematic Botany, Upps.
    • Fischer, E. (1999). Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaire-rwanda-Burundi), Scrophulariaceae: 1-217. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique.
    • Barry, J. P. & Celles, J.S. (1991). Flore de Mauritanie 1: 1-359. Centre Regional de Documentation Pedagogique, Nice.
    • Lebrun, J.p., Toutain, B., Gaston, A. & Boudet, G. (1991). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Burkina Faso: 1-341. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
    • Philcox, D. (1990). Flora Zambesiaca 8(2): 1-179. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Lebrun, J.-P., Audru, J., Gaston, A. & Mosnier, M. (1972). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Tchad Méridional: 1-289. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
    • Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1963). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 2: 1-544.

    Literature

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • Berhaut Fl. Sén. 74.
    • F.T.A. 4, 2: 314
    • in DC. Prod. 10: 381 (1846)
    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Onana, J.M. (2011). The vascular plants of Cameroon a taxonomic checklist with IUCN assessments: 1-195. National herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
    • Ghazanfar, S.A., Hepper, F.N. & Philcox, D. (2008). Flora of Tropical East Africa, Scrophulariaceae: 1-211.
    • Fischer, E. (1999). Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaire-rwanda-Burundi), Scrophulariaceae: 1-217. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique.
    • Barry, J. P. & Celles, J.S. (1991). Flore de Mauritanie 1: 1-359. Centre Regional de Documentation Pedagogique, Nice.
    • Lebrun, J.p., Toutain, B., Gaston, A. & Boudet, G. (1991). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Burkina Faso: 1-341. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
    • Lebrun, J.-P., Audru, J., Gaston, A. & Mosnier, M. (1972). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Tchad Méridional: 1-289. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
    • Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1963). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 2: 1-544.
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • Fl. Ethiop. & Eritr. 5: 260 (2006).
    • Fischer, F.A.C. Scrophulariaceae: 66, pl. 24 (1999)
    • F.W.T.A. ed. 2, 2: 357 (1963)
    • F.T.A. 4(2): 314 (1906)
    • DC., Prodr. 10: 381 (1846)

    Sources

    Flora Zambesiaca
    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0