Family:
Asteraceae Bercht. & J.Presl

Sphaeranthus L.

This genus is accepted, and its native range is Old World.

[FTEA]

Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005

Morphology General Habit
Annual or perennial herbs, usually in moist sites; stems and branches usually with narrow wings
Morphology Leaves
Leaves usually glandular and aromatic, alternate (opposite in S. oppositifolius), usually with decurrent bases
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum
Capitula congested in dense (sub)globose or ellipsoid secondary heads (the glomerule), disciform, usually few-flowered; receptacle of the glomerule convex; glomerules mauve or purple, solitary and terminal but often overtopped by lateral branches, subtended by sub-glabrous bracts which are visible or hidden by the capitula; individual capitula usually sessile, subtended by 2–10 (rarely more) usually scarious bracts
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Outer florets female,filiform, becoming corky basally when achene matures, minutely 3-lobed; central florets hermaphrodite, tube cylindric, lobes 5; anthers sagittate with very short tails and a small ovate distal appendage; style undivided or minutely bifid
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes small, fertile in outer florets, often vestigial or sterile in the inner florets, often hairy with bifid hairs; pappus absent.

Native to:

Andaman Is., Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Benin, Borneo, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Repu, Chad, China South-Central, China Southeast, Congo, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Hainan, India, Iraq, Jawa, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicobar Is., Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Philippines, Queensland, Rwanda, Senegal, Sinai, Somalia, South Australia, South European Russi, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Western Australia, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Sphaeranthus L. appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Sp. Pl.: 927 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Roskov Y. & al. (eds.) (2018). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • Robyns in Kew Bull. 1924: 177—199
  • Ross—Craig in Hook. Ic. Pl., ser. 5, 6: 1 (1954).
  • —F.T.A. 3: 332

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Anderb. in Plant Syst. & Evol. 176: 169 (1991)
  • DC., Prodr. 5: 369 (1836)
  • L., Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 399 (1754)
  • Robyns in K.B. 1924: 177-199 (1924)
  • Ross-Craig in Hook., Ic. Pl. ser. 5, 6: 1–90 (1954)
  • Sp. Pl.: 927 (1753)
  • in K. Bremer, Asteraceae Clad. & Class.: 302 (1994)

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

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

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. 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 2022. 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