| Passerina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Passerina obtusifolia from Rooiberg Nature Reserve, South Africa. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Thymelaeaceae |
| Subfamily: | Thymelaeoideae |
| Genus: | Passerina L. |
Passerina is a genus in the plant family Thymelaeaceae. They are ericoid bushes growing largely in fynbos and other Southern African scrub habitats.
The genus name Passerina derives from the Latin word passer "sparrow" - given the plants in reference to a perceived similarity in the shape of the fruit to a sparrow's beak - more evident in the Thymelaceous plant Thymelaea hirsuta (formerly placed in the genus Passerina). [1]
Passerina L., Sp. Pl. 559 (1753); Wright in FC. 5, 2: 9 (1915); Thoday in Kew Bull. 1924: 146, 387 (1924). Chymococca Meissn., Wright 1.c. 14, is a genus of plants in the family Thymelaeaceae . [2]
Members of the genus Passerina are ericoid shrubs or shrublets, often with a tendency to having pendulous branches. Their leaves are markedly decussate. They are concave or closely involute, lined with woolly hairs, and cling to leafy stems without being large enough to cover them. This gives the plants a characteristic plaited or corded appearance. [2]
The flowers of some species are borne in terminal spikes, whereas other species bear them in a four-flowered head. Bracts, usually broader than leaves and larger than the flowers, subtend each flower. This is one helpful distinction between specimens of Passerina and plants in the genus Struthiola . [3] The calyx has four sepals, forming a flask-shaped or subcylindrical tube. At the mouth the sepals spread into lobes that are shorter than the tube. There are no petals, but the lobes of the sepals are quite colourfully petal-like in many species. The ovary is ovoid with a single loculus containing a solitary ovule. The style is lateral, bearing a mop-like stigma that fills the mouth of the calyx-tube. [2] The calyx is persistent and encloses the fruit except in species such as Passerina ericoides, in which the fruit is berry-like and expands until it protrudes out of the tube. A flower bears eight stamens of unequal length, the longest being the length of the calyx-lobes, but all protrude out of the calyx. The flowers lack of any noticeable scent, their protruding stamens, and their mop-like stigmata suggest their adaptation to wind pollination, in contrast to the petals and night scent of Struthiola. [3]
In most species the fruit is membranous, but some species, e.g. Passerina ericoides have a fleshy pericarp, forming a red berry attractive to birds and tortoises, hence one of its common names, "skilpadbessie", meaning "tortoise berry". However, that name also is applied to other plants, such as Nylandtia spinosa . The seeds have a black, crustaceous testa and curved, beak-like micropyle.
As in the related Struthiola, the beak-like aspects of the fruit inspired the name "Passerina", which is from the Latin passerinus, meaning "sparrow-like". [4]
The genus is endemic to Southern Africa, most species within South Africa, though some extend north of the border. The greatest concentration of species is in Cape fynbos, where some species are endemic to very small regions. Passerina ericoides for example occurs naturally only on the Cape Peninsula and the vicinity of False Bay [3]
There are some 20 accepted species in the genus Passerina plus about sixty unresolved and over 100 synonyms. The following are the accepted species, omitting subspecies. [5]
Passerina is a generally insignificant genus, seldom noticed by the non-botanist. The attractive ericoid habit and fuss-free growth make it a useful subject in informal fynbos gardens. Being wind-pollinated, the plants generally are not of much importance to pollinating organisms such as bees and birds.
The Khoisan name gonna refers to the use of its tough bark, together with that of related plants, for binding such items as thatch. [3] The material certainly is remarkably tough and has been used for plaiting into whip thongs. The Khoisan use of a decoction of some species for treating pain, plus the fact that many species of the Thymelaeaceae suggests that the material might be pharmacologically active, but there is no suggestion that the plants cause harm to stock. However, this harmlessness might well be for the same reason that the plants generally are of no value as forage for browsers, namely that they are unpalatable to stock. [6]
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms. Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom. The term sepalum was coined by Noël Martin Joseph de Necker in 1790, and derived from Greek σκέπηskepē 'covering'.
Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus Geranium. The family includes both the genus Geranium and the garden plants called geraniums, which modern botany classifies as genus Pelargonium, along with other related genera.
The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera and 898 species. It was established in 1789 by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. The Thymelaeaceae are mostly trees and shrubs, with a few vines and herbaceous plants.
Scopolia is a genus of four species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae, native to Europe and Asia. The genus is named after Giovanni Scopoli (1723–88), a Tyrolean naturalist. The genus has a disjunct distribution, with two recognised species in Central to Eastern Europe,, and two species in East Asia. The two European species are:
Thymelaea is a genus of about 30 species of evergreen shrubs and herbs in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae, native to the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean region, north to central Europe, and east to central Asia.
Gentianella is a plant genus in the gentian family (Gentianaceae). Plants of this genus are known commonly as dwarf gentians.
Gnidia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. It is distributed in Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, and Sri Lanka; more than half of all the species are endemic to South Africa. Gnidia was named for Knidos, an Ancient Greek city located in modern-day Turkey.
Florissantia is an extinct genus of flowering plants in the Malvaceae subfamily Sterculioideae known from western North America and far eastern Asia. Flower, fruit, and pollen compression fossils have been found in formations ranging between the Early Eocene through to the Early Oligocene periods. The type species is Florissantia speirii and three additional species are known, Florissantia ashwillii, Florissantia quilchenensis, and Florissantia sikhote-alinensis.
Passerina ericoides, the Christmas berry, is a threatened species of plant in the family Thymelaeaceae, genus Passerina. It is indigenous to the coastal fynbos areas in and around the city of Cape Town, South Africa.
The plant genus Stilbe was described in 1767, originally as being in the Verbenaceae, but the genus now is placed in the family Stilbaceae. The entire genus is endemic to the Cape Province region of South Africa.
Struthiola is a genus of plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. In habit they are ericoid shrubs or shrublets.
Stellera is a genus of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae, with a single species Stellera chamaejasme found in mountainous regions of Central Asia, China, Siberia and South Asia. S. chamaejasme is a herbaceous perennial plant with heads of white, pink or yellow flowers, grown as an ornamental plant in rock gardens and alpine houses, but considered a weed playing a rôle in the desertification of grasslands in parts of its native range. Like many others of its family, it is a poisonous plant with medicinal and other useful properties.
Cliffortia, or Caperose is a genus of plants that has been assigned to the rose family, with currently 132 known species. Its species can be found in southern Africa, particularly in the Cape Floristic Region where 124 of the species can be found, 109 of which are endemic to the CFR. Most species are ericoid shrubs, some small trees up to 5 m high, others more or less herbaceous groundcover. All are wind pollinated and have separate male and female flowers in the axils of the leaves, mostly individually, sometimes grouped, which may be on the same plant or on separate plants.
Thymelaea hirsuta, boalaga (Spanish), bufalaga, mitnan (Arabic) or shaggy sparrow-wort, is a xerophytic shrub which can grow to 2 metres in height and has a root system reaching depths of up to 3.5m. Some noteworthy characteristics of this species are the tiny size of its leaves and flowers and that both are also fleshy. Like many other species belonging to the family Thymelaeaceae, it is a toxic plant with medicinal properties that also yields a strong fibre used in the making of rope and paper.
Struthiola striata is a rounded, heather-like shrub of up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) high that is assigned to the Thymelaeaceae family. It has small assending leaves on long straight branches, with cream, soft yellow or pinkish flowers in spikes, each of which consist of a tube of about 1 cm (0.39 in) long with 4 oval sepal lobes and 4 yellow alternating petal-like scales. It is sometimes called ribbed capespray or featherhead in English and roemenaggie, katstertjie or veërtjie in Afrikaans. It grows on coastal flats and foothills in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Struthiola tetralepis is a willowy shrublet of up to 30 cm (0.98 ft) high that is assigned to the family Thymelaeaceae. It has long straight branches that are initially hairy and are covered in leaves pressed against them. These leaves are small, overlapping, lance-shaped, sharply pointed, have a regular row of hairs along the margins, and 3-5 veins are visible on the outward facing surface. It has initially greenish yellow, later reddish brown flowers, each of which consists of a tube of about 1 cm (0.39 in) long with 4 lance-shaped, pointed sepal lobes and 4 yellow alternating petal-like scales. It flowers between October and February. It can be found in the southwest of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is sometimes called cross capespray in English.
Lachnaea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae, found in the Cape Floristic Region of southern South Africa. They tend to be small ericoid shrubs.
Otholobium accrescens is an upright, largely herbaceous subshrub assigned to the Pea family. It has up to three stems that carry upright branches in leaf axils near the ground, and have alternately set inverted egg-shaped leaves and lax heads consisting of 12-21 pea-like flowers on long peduncles in the axils of the lower leaves. It differs from most other Otholobium species by the calyx that continues to grow after flowering and the leaf that consists of just one leaflet. It is an endemic of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa near Loerie. It probably flowers August to January.
Dais is a genus of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. It is also part of the Gnidia subfamily, along with Gnidia, Drapetes, Kelleria, Pimelea, Struthiola, Lachnaea and Passerina, other genra of species). It is distributed between Tanzania to S. Africa, Madagascar. It is native to the countries of Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and it is also found within several Provinces of South Africa, such as Cape Provinces, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Provinces.