Habit
Seepage grassland on thin sandy soils over granite outcrop
Ikelenge District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Flower
Seepage grassland on thin sandy soils over granite outcrop
Ikelenge District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Flower
Seepage grassland on thin sandy soils over granite outcrop
Ikelenge District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Synonyms: |
Dissotis tenuis A. Fern. & R. Fern. |
Common names: | |
Frequency: | |
Status: | |
Description: |
Annual herb up to 20 cm high. Stem slender, simple or branched at the base, the branches rather elongate and erect; stems and branches terete, dark reddish, ± appressed-setose, the bristles whitish and bulbous at the base, leafy at the base and below the inflorescence, leafless elsewhere. Leaf-lamina 2–15 x 1.5–9 mm, ovate, rather acute at the apex, entire or slightly crenulate at the margin, attenuated into a petiole 1.5 mm long or contracted at the base, membranous, discolorous (reddish on the upper face, light-green beneath), 3-nerved, ± densely subappressed-setose, the setae white and long. Flowers 4-merous, small, shortly pedicellate, 1–10 in terminal cymes usually arranged in heads that are leafy at the base. Receptacle c. 3 x 2.5 mm, subhemi-spherical, reddish, sparsely setose, the bristles simple, whitish. Sepals c. 3 x 2 mm, persistent or very tardily deciduous, triangular-oblong, ciliate at the margin, stellate-setose at the top, the bristles up to 2.5 mm long. Petals up to 7 x 6 mm, broadly obovate, penicillate-setose at the apex, shortly unguiculate, intensely orange or purple. Stamens 8, very unequal. Shorter stamens: anthers 2 mm long, oblong, obtuse at the top, with a very short pedoconnective produced into a c. 0.25 mm long appendage. Longer stamens: anthers 2 mm long, suddenly contracted into a c. 0.5 mm long beak; pedoconnective 2 mm long, very arched and produced at the base into a 2.5 x 1 mm, 2–3-fid appendage; filaments 2.5 mm long. Ovary sparsely setose at the top; style 5 mm long, strongly curved towards the apex; stigma papillose. Seed c. 0.5 mm in diameter, cochleate, straw-yellow, with minute tubercles disposed in curved, parallel lines. |
Type location: |
Zambia |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | tenuis: thin or slender |
Habitat: | |
Altitude range: (metres) | |
Flowering time: | Mar - Jun |
Worldwide distribution: | North western Zambia, DRC and Tanzania |
Botanical divisions: | |
Growth form(s): | Annual. |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Literature: |
Fernandes, R. & A. (1978). Melastomataceae Flora Zambesiaca 4 Pages 243 - 244. As Dissotis tenuis (Includes a picture). |