| Synonyms: |
Achyranthes carsonii Baker Argyrostachys splendens Lopr. Cyathiula carsonii var. carsonii (suesseng. & Overk) Di Vincenzo, Berrends., Wondafr. & Borsch. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Perennial herb, stem and branches slender, glabrous or thinly pilose in the upper part, striate; rootstock a tuber, spherical to large and parsnip-shaped, up to c. 15 cm long. Leaves very variable, from very narrowly linear to broadly obovate, sessile, (6) 20–70 × 1–18 mm, thinly pilose to somewhat floccose-hairy or frequently glabrous or almost so, the margins sometimes more or less crispate, acute to obtuse or apiculate at the apex. Inflorescence cylindrical (or occasionally capitate in small forms), 1.5–8 (10) × 1.25–1.75 cm, not involucrate, on a slender peduncle 1–15 cm. long, axis brownish or usually white-pilose. Bracts very variable in size; from c. 2 mm. long, deltoid-ovate and scarcely differing from the bracteoles to broadly lanceolate, up to 7 mm long and subequalling the perianth, white, firm, glabrous to minutely ciliate, the midrib shortly excurrent. Bracteoles deltoid-ovate, 1.5–3 mm long, the nerve shortly to long-excurrent, glabrous or ciliate, falling with the perianth. Tepals more or less equal in length, 5–7 mm long, with a narrow green central band, a pale midrib and two shorter white nerves, broadly white-bordered, shortly and finely mucronate, glabrous or thinly pilose above especially along the firm margins of the central green portion and/or the midrib or extreme apex. Capsule oblong-ovoid with a narrower firm apex, 2.5–3 mm long. Seeds oblong-ovoid, 2.25–2.75 mm long, brown, shining, faintly reticulate. Var. carsonii has leaves broadly linear to broadly ovate with those of the central part of the main stem more than 4 mm in width. |
| Type location: |
Zambia |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | carsonii: named after Alexander Carson (1850-1896), British engineer and avid plant collector in Zambia. |
| Habitat: | |
| Altitude range: (metres) | |
| Flowering time: | Nov - Feb |
| Worldwide distribution: | DRC (Katanga), Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Namibia |
| FZ divisions: | C |
| Growth form(s): | Perennial. |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 16. Townsend, C.C. (1988). Amaranthaceae Flora Zambesiaca 9(1) Page 121. |