Family:
Acanthaceae Juss.

Acanthus L.

This genus is accepted, and its native range is S. Central & SE. Europe to N. Australia and Africa.

[FSOM]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Robust perennial herbs or shrubs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves pinnately lobed to divided, sometimes with pseudostipules
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in dense terminal spikes; bracts large, spinose-dentate; bracteoles lanceolate to linear
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 4-lobed; upper and lower lobes larger than the lateral ones
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla 1-lipped (upper lip absent), 3-lobed; tube short
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 4; filaments similar; anthers 1-celled, connate in pairs
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit a capsule
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds glabrous or puberulous.
Distribution
Some 30 species in tropical to warm temperate parts of the Old World.

[FTEA]

Acanthaceae (part 1), Kaj Vollesen, Flora of Tropical East Africa, 2008

Morphology General Habit
Perennial herbs, shrubs or small trees; cystoliths absent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves opposite or in whorls of 4, usually leathery with pale yellow thickened midrib, veins and margins, alternate pair if present usually much reduced, with sessile scale-like glands.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in terminal or axillary racemoid cymes; bracts large, leathery, with 3 prominent longitudinal veins, with spinose margin or entire; bracteoles 2, filiform to ovate, spinose or entire. It is immediately recognisable by its large dark red flowers.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx divided to base into 4 glumaceous sepals which are thickened and horny at the base; dorsal sepal 1–3-veined, entire or with 2–3 small teeth, ventral 2-veined, entire or with 2 large triangular teeth or irregularly toothed, lateral 1-veined.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla tube short, white, thickened and spongy apically, with a dense band of thick retrorse hairs apically; limb split dorsally to give a 3–5-lobed lip, basally with a thickened callus, on both sides of and on callus with thick bulbous-based retrorse hairs; lobes broadly oblong, rounded or central emarginate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 4, exserted, inserted just inside throat, two posterior held above anterior; two pair of filaments similar, curved, thick and bony, laterally compressed; anthers 1-thecous, oblong, with brushes of stiff hairs along whole length ventrally.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary 2-locular with 2 ovules per locule; style linear, glabrous; stigma of 2 lanceolate, acute lobes.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 2–4-seeded, woody, ellipsoid, glossy, sessile, flattened dorsiventrally and rounded apically.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed discoid, glabrous or sericeous-puberulous.
Distribution
Range: About 25 species from southern Europe to the Pacific and south through Africa to Angola, Zambia and Malawi.

Native to:

Albania, Algeria, Andaman Is., Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Caroline Is., Central African Repu, Chad, China South-Central, China Southeast, Congo, East Aegean Is., East Himalaya, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Hainan, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jawa, Kenya, Kriti, Laos, Lebanon-Syria, Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Malawi, Malaya, Maluku, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Nigeria, Northern Territory, Palestine, Philippines, Queensland, Romania, Rwanda, Santa Cruz Is., Sardegna, Sicilia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Is., Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sumatera, Tanzania, Thailand, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Uganda, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Western Australia, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zaïre

Introduced into:

Azores, Baleares, California, Canary Is., Corse, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, France, Great Britain, Madeira, Mauritius, Mexico Central, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Portugal, Spain

Acanthus L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
54503.000 No
Sands, M.J.S. [7202], Indonesia 74021.000 No

First published in Sp. Pl.: 639 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 529. MIM, Deurne.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • —F.T.A. 5: 105.

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, (2000) Author: M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • DC., Prodr. 11: 270 (1847)
  • F.T.A. 5: 105 (1899)
  • G.P. 2: 1090 (1876)
  • Gen. Pl.: 286 (1754)
  • K.B. 62: 233 (2007)
  • Sp. Pl.: 639 (1753)

  • 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

  • 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