- Family:
- Asteraceae Bercht. & J.Presl
- Genus:
- Sphaeranthus L.
Sphaeranthus oppositifolius Ross-Craig

[FTEA]
Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005
- Morphology General Habit
- Herb, the few parts seen to 20 cm high, possibly a creeper with erect shoots; branches striate, unwinged or with short flanges decurrent from the leaf-bases, sparsely puberulous.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves opposite, sessile, linear, 2.5–7.5 cm long, 0.2–0.4 cm wide, base half-amplexicaul to slightly auriculate, margins denticulate with callose teeth, apex spinulose, minutely hispidulous, glandular with sunken glands.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Glomerule globose or nearly so, 8–11 mm across, the proximal half covered by the lower bracts, the capitula ± hidden by the other glomerule bracts; peduncle 0.5–1 cm long, unwinged or with a narrow wing, puberulous; receptacle ± flat; glomerulebracts ovate or broadly ovate, 5–6.5 mm long, the proximal to 6 mm wide, apex cuspidate, hispidulous and glandular; capitula sessile, with 2(–3) bracts, these folded and ± 5 mm long, scarious, ciliate, puberulous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
- Florets 5–6 per capitulum; outer florets 3–4, filiform, tube 2.8–3.5 mm long, lobes ± 0.2 mm long, style 3.6–4 mm long, briefly bifid; inner florets 2, tube narrowly urceolate, 2.5–3.5 mm long, lobes 0.4–0.5 mm long, sparsely glandular and with a few setae; anthers ± 2.2 mm long with short tails and short ovate distal appendages; style ± 5 mm long, undivided but with a minute cleft at the apex, puberulous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Achenes narrowly obovoid to cylindrical, 0.8–1 mm long, puberulous, those of the inner florets sometimes very small and presumably sterile.
- Habitat
- Lake shore, on drying ground; ± 1250 m
- Distribution
- not known elsewhere T5
Native to:
Tanzania
Sphaeranthus oppositifolius Ross-Craig appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 6, 1951 | Burtt, B.D. [4594], Tanzania | K000274175 | Unknown type material | Yes |
First published in Hooker's Icon. Pl. 36: 59 (1955)
Accepted by
- Roskov Y. & al. (eds.) (2018). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Literature
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Ross-Craig in Hook., Ic. Pl. ser. 5, 6: 59, t. 3514 (1955).
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Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
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 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