454.000 Ascolepis Nees ex Steud.

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves crowded at culm base, lamina often inrolled. Inflorescence a compact head of 1-flowered spikelets surrounded by an involucre of leaves. Each spikelet consists of a spikelet bract, a perianth scale (squamella), a rhachilla (in a few species) and a flower. The squamella is often conspicuous and petal-like and sometimes encloses the flower, the nutlet and squamella falling together. Stamens 1-3(-5). Ovary with 2-3 stigmas. Nutlet minutely papillose.

Comment: The exact occurrence of species in this genus is as yet unknown and the list is incomplete. Some of the species are listed solely on the basis of Malawi being cited in the distribution of the species in Flora of Tropical East Africa.

Worldwide: c. 20 species, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa; 1 in Madagascar and S America and 2 extending to Indo-China

Malawi: 2 taxa.

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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
capensis (Kunth) Ridl.Description, Image
protea Welw. var. bellidiflora (Welw.) LyeN(other?)Description, Image

Other sources of information about Ascolepis:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: Ascolepis
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Ascolepis
Flora of Mozambique: Ascolepis
Flora of Zambia: Ascolepis
Flora of Zimbabwe: Ascolepis

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Ascolepis
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Ascolepis
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Ascolepis
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Ascolepis
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Ascolepis
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Ascolepis
JSTOR Plant Science: Ascolepis
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Ascolepis
Plants of the World Online: Ascolepis
Tropicos: Ascolepis
Wikipedia: Ascolepis

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Malawi: Genus page: Ascolepis.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=265, retrieved 19 March 2024

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