WorldFloraDB - Craterostigma pumilum

Characteristics

A small herb. It keeps growing from year to year. The leaves at the base are in a ring. They are broadly oval and 2-4 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. They are hairy underneath. The flowers arise from the centre of the ring. They are blue or pink.

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Leaves obovate 2–4 x 1–2 cm., obtuse, subacute or shortly acuminate, densely pubescent beneath closely ciliate along the entire margin, glabrous and smooth above or at most with a few cilia towards the apex; petiole short and broad.

Corolla c. 15 mm. long, variable from purple or blue to pink wtih white and yellowish throat, upper lip entire, lower lip trilobed, 10 mm. long.

Flowers arising from the centre of the rosette on a ± sessile inflorescence; bracts lanceolate, c. 1 cm. long, ciliate.

Calyx 6 mm. long, up to 9 mm. long in fruit, teeth acuminate, pubescent along the median nerves.

Perennial herb with short rhizome, red-orange roots and rosette of leaves.

Capsule as long as or slightly longer than the calyx, broadly ovoid.

Pedicels 2–3 cm. long, pilose.

Life form	perennial
Growth form	herb
Growth support	free-standing
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Sexuality	hermaphrodite
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Root system	rhizome
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Environment

It is a tropical plant. It grows in moist shallow soil over rocks. In East Africa it grows from 100-3,000 m above sea level.

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Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

The roots are chewed for the taste. (It is like a sweet carrot.)

Uses	medicinal
Edible	roots
Therapeutic use	-
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Cultivation

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