- Family:
- Apocynaceae Juss.
Gomphocarpus R.Br.

[FTEA]
Apocynaceae (part 2), David Goyder, Timothy Harris, Siro Masinde, Ulrich Meve, Johan Venter. Flora of Tropical East Africa, 2012
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrubby or pyrophytic perennial herbs.
- Morphology Stem
- Stems erect, branched or not, frequently woody below.
- Morphology Roots
- Root system mostly a fibrous tap root, sometimes somewhat thickened and woody, but never tuberous.
- Morphology General Exudate
- Latex white, copious
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves generally in opposite pairs, occasionally subopposite or in whorls of 3 or 4
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences extra-axillary with flowers in a nodding umbel
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Sepals free
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla lobes united only at the base, spreading or reflexed, abaxial face glabrous or pubescent, occasionally tomentose, adaxial face glabrous or minutely papillose, occasionally pubescent, commonly with a line of long white hairs along the right margin
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corona
- Gynostegial corona of 5 minute interstaminal lobules near the base of the anther wings and 5 well-developed cucullate staminal lobes attached above the base of the staminal column, with or without teeth or processes on the upper margins and mostly lacking a tooth in the cavity Corolline corona absent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers
- Margins of anther wings straight, slightly convex or slightly sinuous; corpusculum ovoid to subcylindrical, brown or black, with or without translucent flanges up the sides; translator arms flattened and geniculate or differentially thickened.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pollinia
- Pollinia flattened, oblong or oblanceolate to obovate, occasionally subtriangular, pendant in the anther cells
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
- Stylar head flat
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel
- Fruiting pedicel mostly contorted to hold follicle erect, occasionally straight or weakly sinuous
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Follicles generally single by abortion, variable in shape from subcylindrical to ovoid or globose, strongly inflated in some taxa, weakly or not at all in others, surface frequently ornamented with pubescent filiform processes
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds generally ovate, with one convex and one concave face, verrucose, without a marginal rim, or in the G glaucophyllus group with a convoluted margin, or rarely ( G rivularis) smooth, and with an inflated rim, with a coma of silky hairs.
[FSOM]
M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS
- Morphology General Habit
- Short-lived shrubby perennial herbs from non-tuberous tap roots; latex white
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves paired or in whorls of 4, sessile or shortly petiolate, linear to linear-lanceolate with revolute margins
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences extra-axillary, forming pedunculate nodding umbels
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla rotate or reflexed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corona
- Gynostegial corona of 5 staminal lobes attached c. 1 mm above base of staminal column, laterally compressed, complicate, quadrate, the upper margins variously toothed, cavity of the lobe with or without a tooth Corolline corona absent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Stigma
- Stigmatic head flat
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits Infructescences
- Fruiting pedicel usually contorted; follicles single, lanceolate to subglobose, beaked or not, variously inflated, with or without pubescent filiform processes
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pollinarium
- Pollinaria with a pair of pendent flattened pollinia
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds ovate with one convex and one concave face, verrucose; tuft of hairs c. 3 cm long.
- Distribution
- Genus of 20 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa and Arabia, a few species naturalised elsewhere in warm-temperate and subtropical parts of the world.
Native to:
Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cabinda, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Central African Repu, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Free State, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Oman, Palestine, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Introduced into:
Albania, Algeria, Argentina Northeast, Azores, Baleares, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, California, Canary Is., China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Cook Is., Corse, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Hainan, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Italy, Jamaica, Jawa, Kermadec Is., Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Leeward Is., Madeira, Marquesas, Mauritius, Mexico Southwest, Morocco, New Caledonia, New South Wales, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Nicaragua, Niger, Norfolk Is., Panamá, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rodrigues, Réunion, Sardegna, Senegal, Seychelles, Sicilia, Society Is., South Australia, Spain, Sri Lanka, St.Helena, Suriname, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Victoria, Vietnam, Yugoslavia
- Gomphocarpus abyssinicus Decne.
- Gomphocarpus cancellatus (Burm.f.) Bruyns
- Gomphocarpus filiformis (E.Mey.) D.Dietr.
- Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W.T.Aiton
- Gomphocarpus glaucophyllus Schltr.
- Gomphocarpus integer (N.E.Br.) Bullock
- Gomphocarpus kaessneri (N.E.Br.) Goyder & Nicholas
- Gomphocarpus munonquensis (S.Moore) Goyder & Nicholas
- Gomphocarpus phillipsiae (N.E.Br.) Goyder
- Gomphocarpus physocarpus E.Mey.
- Gomphocarpus praticola (S.Moore) Goyder & Nicholas
- Gomphocarpus purpurascens A.Rich.
- Gomphocarpus rivularis Schltr.
- Gomphocarpus semiamplectens K.Schum.
- Gomphocarpus semilunatus A.Rich.
- Gomphocarpus sinaicus Boiss.
- Gomphocarpus stenophyllus Oliv.
- Gomphocarpus swynnertonii (S.Moore) Goyder & Nicholas
- Gomphocarpus tenuifolius (N.E.Br.) Bullock
- Gomphocarpus tomentosus Burch.
Gomphocarpus R.Br. appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
s.coll. [Cat. no. s.n.] | K001132416 | Yes |
First published in Asclepiadeae: 26 (1810)
Accepted by
- Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS G: 1-40325.
- Goyder, D.J., Gilbert, M.G. & Venter, H.J.T. (2020). Flora Zambesiaca 7(3): 1-375. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Literature
Flora of Somalia
- Flora Somalia, Vol 3, (2006) Author: by D. Goyder [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
- Goyder & Nicholas in Kew Bull. 56: 769–836 (2001).
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- K.B. 56: 769–836 (2001)
- On the Asclepiadeae: 26 (1810)
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Flora of Somalia
Flora of Somalia
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
-
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