828.000 Eriocaulon L.

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs. Involucral bracts scarious to coriaceous, spreading to reflexed at maturity. Floral bracts often white-hairy towards the tip. Flowers borne on a central receptacle; male and female mixed or female around the edge. Sepals free or ± connate in male flowers, usually free in the female. Petals usually with a black gland near or at the tip, often white-hairy at the tip. Male petals all small or one enlarged and exserted. Male flowers with stamens (in our species) 6 or 4, twice as many as the petals; anthers black or white. Female flowers with petals free. Seeds ellipsoid, smooth or distinctively patterned.

Derivation of name: from Greek: erion meaning wool, caulos meaning stem

Worldwide: c. 400 species in tropical and warm regions of the world; some temperate.

Malawi: 17 taxa.

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

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
abyssinicum Hochst.CDescription, Image
afzelianum Wikstr. ex Körn.N
buchananii RuhlandN,S
elegantulum Engl.S
maculatum SchinzS
maronderanum S.M. PhillipsN
mesanthemoides RuhlandN
mulanjeanum S.M. Phillips[NrEnd]S
mutatum N.E. Br. var. mutatum N,C,S
pictum FritschNDescription, Image
schimperi RuhlandNDescription, Image
selousii S.M. PhillipsS
sonderianum Körn.SDescription, Image
stenophyllum R.E. Fr. NDescription, Image
teusczii Engl. & Ruhland ex RuhlandN
transvaalicum N.E. Br. subsp. hanningtonii (N.E. Br.) S.M. PhillipsC
zambesiense RuhlandS

Other sources of information about Eriocaulon:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Eriocaulon
Flora of Burundi: Eriocaulon
Flora of Mozambique: Eriocaulon
Flora of Zambia: Eriocaulon
Flora of Zimbabwe: Eriocaulon

External websites:

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

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: Eriocaulon.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=312, retrieved 7 December 2024

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