7973.000 Barleria L.

Description of the genus

Small shrubs or suffrutices. Leaves opposite. Flowers usually in cymes, or solitary and axillary, or in terminal spikes or heads with reduced leaves; bracts and bracteoles sometimes spiny. Calyx 4-partite; segments unequal, leaf-like or membranous, sometimes spiny, the two outer enclosing the inner. Corolla ± actinomorphic, 4-5-lobed or ± 2-lipped, with a tubular base; lobes obovate, sometimes unequal. Stamens 2 or 4, not didynamous. Ovary 2-locular with 2 ovules per loculus. Capsule solid in upper part; seeds flat with hygroscopic hairs.

Derivation of name: After Jacques Barrelier (1606-1673), a Dominican monk and French botanist

Worldwide: 250 species in the tropics

DRC: 25 taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Sarangesa motozi (Forest elfin) Larval foodplant
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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesBotanical divisionsContent
aenea I. Darbysh.
alata S.Moore
boehmii Lindau
brownii S.Moore
cinerea Champl.
cinnabarina Champl.
descampsii LindauXIDescription, Image
elegans S.Moore ex C.B.Clarke
elliptica Benoist
gandhii Kottaim.
glutinosa Champl.
grandicalyx Lindau
grandipetala De Wild.
kaessneri S. Moore
lobelioides Champl. [End]XIDescription
lukafuensis De Wild.
neurophylla C.B.Clarke
obtecta Champl.
oenotheroides Dum.Cours.
phaylopsis Milne-Redh.Description, Image
sceptrum-katanganum Champl.
velutina Champl.Description, Image
ventricosa Hochst. ex NeesDescription, Image
verdickii De Wild.
villosa S.Moore

Other sources of information about Barleria:

Our websites:

Flora of Angola: Barleria
Flora of Botswana: Barleria
Flora of Burundi: Barleria
Flora of Caprivi: Barleria
Flora of Kenya: Barleria
Flora of Malawi: Barleria
Flora of Mozambique: Barleria
Flora of Rwanda: Barleria
Flora of Tanzania: Barleria
Flora of Uganda: Barleria
Flora of Zambia: Barleria
Flora of Zimbabwe: Barleria
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Barleria

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Barleria
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Barleria
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Barleria
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Barleria
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Barleria
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Barleria
JSTOR Plant Science: Barleria
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Barleria
Plants of the World Online: Barleria
Tropicos: Barleria
Wikipedia: Barleria

Copyright: The DRC flora team, 2024-26

The DRC flora team (2026). Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Genus page: Barleria.
https://www.drcongoflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1340, retrieved 17 September 2026

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