Pedaliaceae
Pterodiscus

Pterodiscus elliottii Baker ex Stapf

First published in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 4(2): 542 (1906)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Zambia to Zimbabwe. It is a tuberous subshrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Pedaliaceae, H. D. Ihlenfeldt. Flora Zambesiaca 8:3. 1988

Morphology General Habit
Perennial herb, c. 20 cm. high; the basal organ consisting of a short woody stem arising from a subterranean pyriform or sometimes napiform tuber.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves lanceolate or oblanceolate, up to 12 cm. long and 2.5 cm. broad, undulate to slightly dentate; if dentate, then the teeth more conspicuous and concentrated towards the apex of the leaf, usually with 4–5 pairs of lateral veins.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers dark purple to wine-red, sometimes with a yellow throat; corolla tube funnel-shaped (except at the very base), 40–50 mm. long, limb c. 35 mm. in diam.; lobes subequal.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit rotund in lateral view, c. 22 mm. long and 20 mm. broad; the wings c. 3–4 mm. broad; beak very narrow.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 1–2 in each loculus.
Note
The original description is based on a very poor specimen consisting of a single stem with flower, without the basal organ and without fruits which are described here for the first time.
[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: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[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

  • 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 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