Orobanchaceae
Striga

Striga aspera (Willd.) Benth.

First published in Compan. Bot. Mag. 1: 362 (1836)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is W. Tropical Africa to W. Ethiopia and Malawi. It is an annual and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Scrophulariaceae, F. N. Hepper. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

Morphology General Habit
Slender erect slightly hispid herb, 6-18 in. high
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers pink or purple, sometimes white
Ecology
Weed of waste places and cultivation in savanna
Note
Drying blackish.
[FWTA]

Scrophulariaceae, D. Philcox. Flora Zambesiaca 8:2. 1990

Morphology General Habit
Branched or simple annual to 30 cm. tall; stem slightly angled, hispid with upward pointed hairs.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves divergent, narrow, up to 6 cm. long, usually less than 3 mm. wide, scabrid.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts
Bracts of lowest flowers 2.5 cm. long, exceeding the calyx, bracts of upper flowers as long as or only slightly exceeding the calyx, 0.25–0.5 mm. wide with hispidulous margins, bracteoles similar to bracts but greatly reduced, three quarter length of calyx, 0.2 mm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 6–10 mm. long, including subulate teeth, teeth half as long as calyx tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla pink, tube c. 15 mm. long, densely puberulent, bent and inflated just below limb; upper lip of corolla emarginate, slightly recurved, lower lobes spreading, 5–8 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capusle 4 mm. long, oblong in outline.
[FZ]

Scrophulariaceae, S.A. Ghazanfar, F.N. Hepper & D. Philcox. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2008

Type
Type: Ghana, Ada, Isert s.n. (B, Herb-Willd. 11182, holo.; C, iso., microfiche!)
Morphology General Habit
Annual herb.
Morphology Stem
Stems erect, terete to slightly angled, to 30 cm high, branched or simple, hispid with upward pointed hairs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves spreading, linear, usually up to 6 cm long, < 3 mm wide, scabrid
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers alternate, in spikes; bracts of lowest flowers ± 25 mm long, exceeding the calyx, bracts of upper flowers as long as or only slightly exceeding the calyx, 0.3 mm wide with hispidulous margins; bracteoles similar to bracts but greatly reduced, 3/4 length of calyx, 0.2 mm wide
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 6–9 mm long, including subulate teeth, 5-ribbed; teeth 3–5 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla pink; tube 12–15 mm long, sparsely glandular-pubescent, bent and expanding above calyx; upper lip of corolla emarginate, slightly recurved, lower lobes spreading, 5–8 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule oblong, 4 mm long.
Ecology
Grassland, parasitising the roots of wild grasses; 0–1300 m
Conservation
Least Concern (LC); common and widespread
Distribution
Range: Sudan and West Africa from Nigeria to Senegal Flora districts: T7 T8
[FTEA]

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]

Uses

Use
None recorded on specimens from our area
[FTEA]

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

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • 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