Endostemon

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Endostemon
Endostemon tereticaulis 1DS-II 3-1998.jpg
Endostemon tereticaulis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Subfamily: Nepetoideae
Tribe: Ocimeae
Genus: Endostemon
N.E.Br.
Synonyms [1]
  • PseudocimumBremek.
  • PuntiaHedge

Endostemon is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae, commonly called keepsafes. There are 21 species, the majority of which are found in eastern Africa. Some species are present in central and southern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Madagascar and the Indian subcontinent each have one. [1]

Contents

Description

Members of this genus are aromatic annual or perennial herbs, woody herbs, or low subshrubs. The stems may be prostrate or erect, branching above and becoming woody at the base. The leaves are opposite. [2]

The flowers are bisexual and borne in lax inflorescences of whorls with two to six flowers. The bracts are small and may form a weak terminal tuft. The calyx is persistent, shortly tubular to tubular-campanulate and two-lipped, with an ovate posterior lip and a four-lobed anterior lip. In fruit, the calyx enlarges, with the throat either open and glabrous, closed by converging lobes, or occluded by a dense ring of hairs. [2]

The corolla is white, pink, purple, or bluish, slightly two-lipped and four-lobed, with a straight tube that widens at the throat. Four stamens are held within the corolla, with short hairy filaments and dorsifixed anthers. The ovary is deeply four-lobed, with a gynobasic style and capitate stigma. [2]

The fruit consists of smooth black or brown nutlets, ovoid to narrowly ovoid, which produce variable amounts of mucilage when wetted. [2]

Taxonomy

The genus is divided into four sections. [3]

Section Endostemon [3] [4]

Calyx shortly tubular; throat glabrous and open in fruit. Anterior lip with lanceolate teeth, the lateral lobes not extending towards the posterior lip. Pedicels terete. Ovary glabrous or hairy at the apex. Nutlets narrowly ovoid, triangular in cross section, truncate, glabrous or hairy at the apex.

Section Diffusi [3] [5]

Calyx tubular to tubular-campanulate; throat of fruiting calyx open but closed by a dense ring of long hairs. Anterior lip with deltate to lanceolate lateral lobes extending towards the posterior lip; median lobes linear and longer. Pedicels slightly flattened. Ovary glabrous. Nutlets ovoid with rounded apex.

Section Leucosphaeri [3]

Calyx appearing spherical; fruiting calyx membranous with an open, glabrous throat. Posterior lip enlarged with coiled lateral lobes; anterior lip with lanceolate, slightly asymmetric lobes. Pedicels terete. Corolla lobes flat and spreading in a single plane. Ovary glabrous. Nutlets narrowly oblong-cylindrical, rounded to slightly angled in cross section, flattened at the base, with a rounded apex. Restricted to eastern Ethiopia and Somalia.

Section Oblongi [3]

Calyx tubular; fruiting calyx throat glabrous and closed by convergent lobes of the anterior lip pressed against the posterior lip. Pedicels flattened. Ovary glabrous. Nutlets narrowly ovate, rounded in cross section, with a rounded apex.

References

  1. 1 2 "Endostemon N.E.Br". Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Paton, A.J.; Bramley, G.; Ryding, O.; Polhill, R.M.; Harvey, Y.B.; Iwarsson, M.; Willis, F.; Phillipson, P.B.; Balkwill, K.; Lukhoba, C.W.; Otieno, D.F.; Harley, R.M. (2009). Flora of Tropical East Africa: Lamiaceae (Labiatae). Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p. 196. ISBN   978-1-84246-372-7 . Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Paton, Alan; Harley, M.M.; Harley, R.M.; Weeks, S. (1994). "A Revision of Endostemon (Labiatae)". Kew Bulletin. 49 (4). Springer Nature: 673–716. Bibcode:1994KewBu..49..673P. doi:10.2307/4118065. JSTOR   4118065 . Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  4. ↑ Goyder, D.J.; Davies, N.; Finckh, M.; Gomes, A.; Gonçalves, F.M.P.; Meller, P.; Paton, A.J. (September 2023). "New species of Asclepias (Apocynaceae), Baphia (Leguminosae), Cochlospermum (Bixaceae) and Endostemon (Lamiaceae) from the Kalahari sands of Angola and NW Zambia, with one new combination in Vangueria (Rubiaceae)". PhytoKeys (232): 145–166. Bibcode:2023PhytK.232..145G. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.232.110110 . PMC   10534249 . PMID   37780180.
  5. ↑ Ryding, Olof; Paton, Alan; Thulin, Mats; Springate, David (2003). "Reconsideration of the Genus Puntia and a New Species of the Genus Endostemon (Lamiaceae)". Kew Bulletin. 58 (4). Springer Nature: 919–927. Bibcode:2003KewBu..58..919R. doi:10.2307/4111205. JSTOR   4111205 . Retrieved 16 January 2026.
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