Schultesia benthamiana Klotzsch ex Griseb.

Species

Angiosperms > Gentianales > Gentianaceae > Schultesia

Characteristics

Herb, 4-28 cm tall, usually unbranched. Stems and branches 0.05-0.15 cm in diam.; internodes 0.4-4 cm long, shorter at base. Leaves usually as long as or longer than internodes, lower leaves shorter than upper ones; blade linear-triangular to narrowly ovate, 0.4-3.5 x 0.1-0.35 cm, apex acute, only primary vein distinct below. Inflorescence terminal, rarely axillary (in larger plants), 1-6-flowered modified dichasia; bracts 7-40 mm long, usually as long as or longer than leaves, bracteoles 9-20 mm; pedicels 2-23(-35) mm long. Flowers erect to slightly nodding, upper ones appear sessile; calyx pale green to blue green, rarely pale yellow (wings darker), 9-23 mm long, 4-winged, connation 1/3-1/2 of its length, lobes linear-narrowly triangular, 6-15 x 0.5-2 mm, almost always longer than corolla tube, margin entire, membranous, apex acute to acuminate, wings obvious, green to blue-green, 0.5-2.2 mm broad, wing venation reticulate, sometimes somewhat transverse; corolla pale yellow to dull brown to pink to dark purple at base, or creamy orange, sometimes with lighter colored or purplish lines at base, throat darker sometimes lined, funnel-shaped, 17-34 mm long, connation 1/2 to just more than half of its length, lobes round-obovate, 6-15 x 5-13 mm, margin entire to slightly undulating, apex acute to broadly rounded and acuminate; stamens longest ones longer than corolla tube, almost always much shorter than style+stigma, unequal or 2 long and 2 short, inserted on corolla tube 1/3 from base, filaments white, 4.5-16 mm long, straight, with 2 3-dentate appendages ca. 1/2 length of filament, anthers white, yellow, or pale brown, narrowly ellipsoid, (0.8-)1.5-4(-5) mm long; pistil (11-)18-28(-32) mm long, ovary ellipsoid, 3-7 x 0.5-2 mm, darker disk-like ring at base, style 8-19 mm long, much longer than corolla tube and ca. 1/2 length of corolla lobe, stigma yellow or white, lobes broadly ovate-reniform, 1-2.5 mm long. Fruit ellipsoid, 5-10 mm long; calyx and corolla persistent, calyx wings 3-5 mm broad in fruit.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.04 - 0.28
Root system -
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Nitrogen fixer -
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Environment

Light -
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses: Roots are bitter and used for making tea. The boiled extract is used to make a bitter drink for women before their menstruation.
Uses tea
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
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Distribution

Schultesia benthamiana world distribution map, present in Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:370580-1
WFO ID wfo-0000497706
COL ID 4VG4G
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Schultesia schomburgkiana Schultesia benthamiana