Gutenbergia polycephala Oliv. & Hiern

Species

Angiosperms > Asterales > Asteraceae > Gutenbergia

Characteristics

Annual herb 15-120 cm tall; stems erect, branching, grey-brown, puberulous.. Leaves opposite (proximally) or alternate, sessile, (narrowly) ovate, 2-11 cm long, 0.5-5 cm wide, base cuneate to rounded or cordate, margins subentire, apex obtuse and apiculate, green and sparsely pubescent above, white-tomentose beneath.. Capitula in rather lax terminal and upper axillary compound corymbiform cymes; stalks of individual capitula appressed-pubescent; involucre subglobose, 2-4 mm in diameter at flowering time; phyllaries 3-seriate, narrowly ovate, 2-6 mm long, the outer acute, slightly pungent, the inner obtuse, apiculate, all green centrally especially in upper part and with pallid membranous margins, finely rather densely pubescent to densely tomentose.. Corolla 4-7.5 mm long, rich purple to pale violet blue, lilac or rarely white, densely hairy all over, lobes 1.5-2.7 mm long.. Achenes ellipsoid, 1-1.7 mm long, 10-ribbed with 5 more prominent ribs alternating with 5 less prominent ribs, sparsely shortly hairy at least at the apex, to almost glabrous; pappus absent.. Fig. 30/6 (achene), p. 127.
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Leaves opposite, becoming alternate on the upper stem, subsessile, 2–6 x 0.5–3.5 cm., lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, apex acute or subobtuse mucronate, base rounded to cordate or broadly cuneate, margins entire, upper surface sparsely weakly pilose with fine T-shaped hairs, lower surface thinly whitish araneose-felted.
Phyllaries few-seriate, narrowly lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, blunt at the apex, narrowly scarious on the margins, sometimes serrulate near the apex, hoary appressed-pubescent outside, the outer from c. 2 mm. long, the inner to c. 4 mm. long.
Corollas mauve, 4–7.5 mm. long, funnel-shaped above shortly tubular below, tube and limb appressed puberulous the hairs short-stalked T-shaped.
Achenes dark-brown, 1.0–1.5 mm. long, obovoid-turbinate, c. 12-ribbed, sparsely setulose, the bristles uncinate at the apex; pappus 0.
Capitula small, few to numerous, in a ± diffuse arrangement; stalks slender, mostly 5–15 mm. long, appressed tomentellous.
Stems sparingly to much branched, softly appressed puberulous; indumentum of short-stalked long-armed T-shaped hairs.
Involucres 3–5 x 4–5 mm., campanulate, florets exserted.
An erect slender to bushy annual herb, 15–50 cm. tall.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
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Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.15 - 0.85
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Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

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Distribution

Gutenbergia polycephala world distribution map, present in Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, United Republic of, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:210795-1
WFO ID wfo-0000033173
COL ID 3HMY2
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Gutenbergia polycephala