Endostemon tenuiflorus

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Endostemon tenuiflorus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Endostemon
Species:
E. tenuiflorus
Binomial name
Endostemon tenuiflorus
(Benth.) M.Ashby
Synonyms
  • Orthosiphon tenuiflorusBenth.
  • Pseudocimum tenuiflorus(Benth.) Bremek.
  • Ocimum depauperatumVatke
  • Orthosiphon depauperatumA.Terracc.
  • Pseudocimum trichocalyxBremek.

Endostemon tenuiflorus is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and commonly called the slenderleaf keepsafe or, sometimes in South Africa, the mopaneveld keepsafe. [1] [2]

Contents

Description

This species is a perennial, softly sticky dwarf shrublet 0.15–0.25 m (5.9 in – 9.8 in) tall, woody at the base and freely branched. The stems are ascending and covered with fine glandular bristles. [3]

The leaves are subsessile and often leathery, with linear to linear-oblanceolate blades, 12–40 mm (0.47–1.57 in) long. The surfaces are roughened by numerous sunken glands, with blunt tips, narrowed bases, and margins that are obscurely and distantly toothed, often rolled under. [3]

The inflorescences are lax racemes 50–70 mm (2.0–2.8 in) long, composed of several spaced whorls, each bearing two flowers. The bracts are 1.5–5 mm (0.059–0.197 in) long. The calyx is spiny and strongly veined, hairy within the throat, and enlarges to about 3.5 mm (0.14 in) at maturity; the tube is bell-shaped, with narrow, awl-shaped lateral teeth shorter than the lower pair. The corolla is whitish to mauve or pink, 8–9 mm (0.31–0.35 in) long, with a cylindrical tube and short lobes. [3]

Identification

In northeastern Africa, Endostemon tenuiflorus looks closest to Endostemon glandulosus in Ethiopia. The latter has a shorter inflorescence, however, and its corolla is five-lobed. [4]

Distribution and habitat

Endostemon tenuiflorus′s geographic range spans southern Africa, northeastern tropical Africa, southern Madagascar, Socotra, and the Arabian Peninsula. [2] In southern Africa, it has been recorded in northwestern Namibia, Botswana, southernmost Zimbabwe, and South Africa′s Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. [5] It tends to be found in drier savannah, including Acacia–Commiphora bushland and Zambezian and mopane woodlands. [3] [4]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Endostemon tenuiflorus". Red List of South African Plants. SANBI. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  2. 1 2 "Endostemon tenuiflorus (Benth.) M.Ashby". Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Codd, L. E. W., Dyer, R. A., Rycroft, H. B., de Winter, B. (1985). Flora of Southern Africa: The Republic of South Africa, Basutoland, Swaziland and South West Africa. Vol. 28. Govt. Printer. p. 129. ISBN   0621082686.
  4. 1 2 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. pp. 205–206. ISBN   978 1 84246 372 7 . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  5. ↑ Klopper, R.R. & Winter, P.J.D., ed. (20 March 2025). "The South African National Plant Checklist: 2025 official yearly release". South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Retrieved 13 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

See also

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