Asteraceae
Sphaeranthus

Sphaeranthus greenwayi Ross-Craig

First published in Hooker's Icon. Pl. 36: 50 (1955)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tanzania.

Descriptions

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

Morphology General Habit
Herb to 0.6 m tall, with ascending branches; branches pilose with crisped hairs and with entire or denticulate wings.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves lanceolate, 2.5–6 cm long, 0.5–1.4 cm wide, base narrowing and decurrent, margins serrulate, apex acute, pilose especially on midrib and margins, glandular.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Glomerules mauve, terminal, globose, 10–12 mm in diameter; peduncle 1–3 cm long, narrowly winged, densely pilose; receptacle globose to broadly ovoid; glomerule bracts at length hidden but for the apices, but in younger stages with the lowermost visible, lanceolate, 3–5 mm long, pectinate-ciliate distally, acuminate, distally puberulous; capitula numerous, sessile, with 3 bracts, these linear, ± 3 mm long, scarious and puberulous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Florets:outer florets 6, tube 2–2.7 mm long, corky proximally, slightly widened at the lobes, lobes 0.1 mm long, style 2.4–3 mm long; inner florets 1, tube tapered proximallybut becoming cylindrical and corky, 1.9–2 mm long, lobes 0.2–0.4 mm long, setose, glandular, anthers 1.1–1.3 mm long, style 2.6–2.7 mm long, entire.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes of outer florets ovoid, 0.5–0.6 mm long, puberulous, of inner florets ± 0.6 mm long, sterile and glabrous.
Habitat
Swamp or on black cotton soil; 350–1500 m
Distribution
not known elsewhere T2 T3
[FTEA]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East 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 Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0