Teucrium trifidum Retz.

Species

Angiosperms > Lamiales > Lamiaceae > Teucrium

Characteristics

An erect soft undershrub 0.3-1.1 m tall, branching freely from the base; stems virgate, branching freely in the upper half or third, woody below, shortly greyish tomentose. Leaves drying greyish green to grey-brown, thinly tomentose above, denser to almost canescent and gland-dotted below, usually deeply 3-fid or 3-5-partite, rarely almost entire, 20-60 mm long; lobes linear to lanceolate, 10-35 x 3-8 mm, often again shortly lobed or toothed, margin entire, revolute; basal portion of leaf 3-8 mm broad, consisting of a winged midrib narrowing to a short petiole. Inflorescence a leafy panicle occupying the upper third of the stem; flowers usually in 3-7-flowered pedunculate cymes, rarely solitary; peduncle 5-20(-25) mm long, pedicels 3-12 mm long; bracteoles usually very small and linear. Calyx greyish, 2.5-4 mm long, teeth about 2 mm long. Corolla 5-6 mm long; tube 2 mm long; lower lip obovate, 3-4 mm long, slightly concave, remaining 4 lobes oblong, rounded, 2 mm long. Anthers exserted by 6-8 mm.
More
Erect, soft undershrub, 0.3-1.1 m high; branching from base; stems virgate, woody below. Leaves petiolate, drying greyish green, deeply 3-fid or 3-5-partite, 20-60 mm long; lobes linear-lanceolate 10-35 x 3-8 mm, margins entire, revolute; thinly tomentose above, almost canescent and gland-dotted below. Inflorescence a leafy panicle; flowers in 3-7-flowered pedunculate cymes, white. Calyx 2.5-4.0 mm long. Corolla 5-6 mm long; lower lip obovate; remaining 4 lobes oblong to rounded. Anthers exserted by 6-8 mm. Flowering time Oct.-Apr.
Shrub, 0.3-1.1 m high. Leaves 20-60 mm long; blade ± deeply 3-fid or 3-lobed, lobes linear to narrowly ovate, 10-35 x 3-8 mm, basal portion of leaf with midrib winged narrowing to a short petiole. Flowers: peduncles 3-7-flowered, cymes often as long as or longer than internode; calyx 2.5-4.0 mm long, teeth 2 mm long, greyish; corolla with tube 2 mm long, lower lip obovate, 3-4 mm long, remaining 4 lobes oblong, rounded, 2 mm long, white; Oct.-Apr.
Leaves sessile; lamina deeply divided with 3–5 ± linear lobes, 25–35 mm long and with lobes 1–3 mm broad, margin revolute, apex of lobes rounded or sometimes 3-fid, attenuate at base, pubescent with pale sessile glands.
Perennial herb 0.2–0.3(1) m tall with a woody rhizome; stems 1–few, simple or branched near base, woody at base, slender, 4-angular, pubescent with retrorse eglandular hairs and scattered pale sessile glands.
Inflorescence a leafy panicle in the upper one third of the stem; flowers usually in 3–7-flowered pedunculate cymes; peduncles opposite, 8–13(20) mm long; pedicels 3–5(12) mm long; bracteoles small, linear.
Mericarps brown, 2 mm long, reticulate, pubescent at apex; areole paler, covering three quarters of the length of the mericarp.
Soft, willowy, greyish undershrub to 1 m. Leaves thinly hairy, 3-5-partite. Flowers several in axillary cymes, white.
Calyx 3–4 mm long, campanulate, equally lobed; teeth lanceolate, 2 mm long.
Stamens exserted up to 5(8) mm, curved or coiled.
Corolla white, 4–5(6) mm long.
A herb.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.3 - 1.1
Root system rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a subtropical plant.
Light -
Soil humidity 1-3
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The leaves are eaten as a snack and cooked as a vegetable and used for flavouring.
Uses medicinal
Edible leaves
Therapeutic use Piles (unspecified), Stomachic (unspecified), Tea (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) 25 - 30
Germination temperacture (C°) 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Teucrium trifidum unspecified picture

Distribution

Teucrium trifidum world distribution map, present in Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:460772-1
WFO ID wfo-0000322699
COL ID 7C5QC
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Teucrium capense Teucrium trifidum Ajuga capensis