Nemesia fruticans Benth.

Cape snapdragon (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Lamiales > Scrophulariaceae > Nemesia

Characteristics

Perennial herb or suffrutex, 0.1-0.6 m high. Stems erect, well branched, tufted at base, leafy, herbaceous and glabrous above, plant with foetid smell. Leaves shortly petiolate to sessile; blade linear-lanceolate, 12-38 x 1.5-12.0 mm, apex acute, lower leaves with margins dentate, upper ones entire. Flowers: in many-flowered, capitate racemes, longer in fruit, apex obtuse, base narrowed or obtuse, covered with minute hairs, 12-230 mm long, sessile and globular or dot-like; spur 4.3-6.4 mm long, cylindric, obtuse, somewhat curved; corolla with upper lobes oblong; white, pink or mauve with purple veins, palate bi-convex, yellow-orange; Aug.-Dec. Fruit an oblong to ovoid capsule, 4-14 x 4.0-8.5 mm, apex slightly contracted, not horned, valves obliquely truncate; lateral side of apex acute, outline rectangular.
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Perennial herb, up to 0.45-0.80 m high. Stems erect to ascending, much branched, glabrous or in upper part with sessile, glandular hairs, much branched at base. Leaves with a short petiole or sessile; blade linear-lanceolate, seldom elliptic-lanceolate, 12-38 x 1.5-11.0 mm, margins entire or dentate. Flowers: in lax racemes of 50 mm long, elongating to 180 mm in fruit; spur narrow, up to 4.3-6.4 mm long, cylindric, mostly straight; corolla white, light pink or mauve, orange-yellow on palate and in throat; Sep.-Mar. Fruit a widely oblong or ovate capsule, ± 10 x 7 mm, ± emarginate, outer corners somewhat horned; lateral side of apex rounded, outline ovate.
Perennial herb or suffrutex, up to at least 400 mm high; stems erect, much branched, leafy to inflorescence; plant foetid smelling. Leaves shortly petiolate to sessile; linear-lanceolate, acute, somewhat dentate below and entire upwards. Flowers grouped in ± capitate racemes, longer in fruit, covered with minute hairs, ± sessile and globular or dotlike. Corolla white, pink or mauve with purple veins; upper lobes oblong; palate bi-convex, yellow-orange. Spur 3-4 mm long, cylindrical, obtuse, somewhat curved. Flowering time Aug.-Dec. Fruit a large, oblong capsule, up to ± 14 mm long, valves somewhat obliquely truncate.
Perennial herb, up to 600 mm high; stems erect to ascending, much branched. Leaves sessile or with short petioles; linear, lanceolate to oblong, entire to denticulate. Flowers in rather lax racemes up to 50 mm long, up to 180 mm in fruit and hairs stalked with slim apex. Corolla white, light pink or mauve, orange-yellow on palate and in throat. Spur up to 3.5 mm long, cylindrical, mostly straight. Flowering time Nov.-Mar. Fruit a widely oblong or ovate capsule, 10.5 x 7 mm, ± emarginate, outer corners somewhat horned.
An annual herb. It is an erect plant. It grows 40-60 cm high. It can have many branches. The stems are angled and red-purple. The leaves are narrow and small and usually opposite. There can be teeth along the edge. The flowers are like snapdragons with 2 lips and a spur. They are 15 mm long. They occur singly in the axils of leaves or at the ends of branches. The fruit are flat capsules. They have 2 chambers and split open to reveal small seeds. Each seed has a membranous wing.
Lax, perennial shrub, up to 800 mm tall. Leaves linear-lanceolate, slightly toothed, margins slightly revolute. Flowers in racemes, white or lilac to pink with a raised yellow palate, hairy in throat, upper lobes oblong, spur ± 4 mm long. Capsule as long as or longer than wide.
Shrublet to 40 cm. Leaves opposite, linear-lanceolate, slightly toothed, margins slightly revolute. Flowers in racemes, pink or lilac with a raised, yellow palate, hairy in throat, upper lobes oblong, spur ± 4 mm long. Capsules as long as or longer than wide.
Herb, up to 450 mm tall, glabrous or in upper part with sessile, glandular hairs, much-branched at base. Leaves linear-lanceolate, seldom elliptic-lanceolate, with short petiole, entire or toothed. Spur narrow. Flowers pink.
Leaves 1.5–3 x 0.15–0.5 cm., sessile to shortly petiolate, narrowly lanceolate, apex obtuse, rounded to cuneate at base, entire to laxly serrate-dentate, glabrous.
Capsule (5)9–10.5 x (3.6)4.8–7 mm., very broadly oblong, ovate, subtruncate at apex, very slightly emarginate, slightly bicornute, more markedly so when young.
Corolla pale pink or mauve or white, throat orange-yellow; upper lip c. 6 mm. long; spur 2–3.4 mm. long, cylindrical, straight.
Stem and branches quadrangular, glabrous or rarely sparsely glandular, especially immediately within inflorescence.
Calyx 2.5–3 mm. long, lobes 0.6–1.5 mm. wide, lanceolate-oblong, obtuse, shortly glandular-pubescent.
Erect annual herb to 40 cm. tall, branched, sometimes profusely, from base.
Pedicels (2.5–4)9–13 mm. long, laxly glandular-pubescent.
Racemes 2–5 cm. long, up to 17 cm. long in fruit.
Bracts 2–3 mm. long, broadly lanceolate.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 0.4 - 0.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a tropical plant. It often grows along streams. It is damaged by frost.
Light 7-9
Soil humidity 1-3
Soil texture 5-8
Soil acidity 2-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 10-11

Usage

The leaves are cooked as a vegetable. They are added as a relish to porridge.
Uses -
Edible leaves stems
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown by seeds. It can also be grown by cuttings.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) 7 - 21
Germination temperacture (C°) 12 - 15
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Nemesia fruticans unspecified picture

Distribution

Nemesia fruticans world distribution map, present in Botswana, Namibia, eSwatini, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:806284-1
WFO ID wfo-0001137407
COL ID 467R8
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Antirrhinum fruticans Linaria capensis Linaria frutescens Nemesia capensis Nemesia divergens Nemesia gracillima Nemesia fruticans Nemesia foetens