Amaranthaceae
Celosia

Celosia brevispicata C.C.Towns.

First published in Hooker's Icon. Pl. 38(2): 111 (1975)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. DR Congo to Angola. It is an annual and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Amaranthaceae, C. C. Townsend. Flora Zambesiaca 9:1. 1988

Morphology General Habit
Annual herb, erect, 15–30 (52) cm. tall, glabrous throughout, simple or branched from the base and/or upwards with long, widely divaricate branches; stem and branches slender and wiry, striate-sulcate.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves linear-filiform, 8–45 × 0.3–1 mm., rarely oblanceolate and up to 34 × 8 mm., subacute, the midrib prominent on the inferior surface.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences silvery-stramineous, of dense short spikes up to 4 cm. long and 6–9 mm. broad, terminal on the stem and branches.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts
Bracts and bracteoles similar, deltoid-ovate, acute, c. 1.25–1.5 mm. long, shortly mucronate with the thick, yellowish, excurrent midrib.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Tepal
Tepals oblong-elliptic, glabrous, shortly mucronate with the excurrent midrib, basally with a narrow green vitta and a short lateral nerve on each side of the midrib, otherwise hyaline, 3–3.5 × 1.5 mm., minutely denticulate at the apical margins.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Filaments
Filaments with the free apex shorter than the basal cup; no intermediate teeth present.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary 4–6-ovulate; style c. 2 mm. long; stigma solitary, linear or very shortly bilobed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule subglobose, not exserted beyond the perianth.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds compressed-oval, black, shiny with a prominent hilum, the testa reticulate centrally and punctate in the corners of the areolae, smoother and epunctate along the margins.
[FZ]

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: low confidence
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. 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 2025. 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