| Actinanthella | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Actinanthella wyliei | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Santalales |
| Family: | Loranthaceae |
| Subtribe: | Tapinanthinae |
| Genus: | Actinanthella Balle |
Actinanthella is a small genus of hemiparasitic shrubs in the Loranthaceae family. They are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. [1]
There are two species in the genus: [1]
The species in the genus are small hemiparasitic shrubs with simple or forked hairs and a single haustorial attachment. They have 1-3 flowers which are borne in the axils, and bracts are cup-shaped with a small limb. The petal structure is tubular below, with radially arranged lobes that first spread and are later reflexed. The tube itself has basal swelling, and is constricted and narrowly funnel-shaped above. The filaments are erect, with the upper part thickened and coiling at the ends. The berry of the plants are shaped narrowly obovoid. [2] [3]
The recorded host plants of Actinanthella are Erythroxylum , Boscia , and Olea . [4]
Like several other African genera of hemiparasitic shrubs, Actinanthella is extremely specialized for pollination. Not only do their petals change coloration once mature to attract pollinators, but their corollas also split to form an opening through which sunbirds can insert their beaks. When that happens, a rapid response triggers, opening the flower and depositing pollen on the pollinator's head. [5]
Asteraceae or Compositae, is a very large and widespread family of flowering plants (Angiospermae).
Euphorbia is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae, not just to members of the genus. Some euphorbias are commercially widely available, such as poinsettias at Christmas. Some are commonly cultivated as ornamentals, or collected and highly valued for the aesthetic appearance of their unique floral structures, such as the crown of thorns plant. Euphorbias from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America, so they are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. Some are used as ornamentals in landscaping, because of beautiful or striking overall forms, and drought and heat tolerance.
Cornus canadensis is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family, native to eastern Asia, the northern United States, Colorado, New Mexico, Canada and Greenland. Unlike its relatives, which are for the most part substantial trees and shrubs, C. canadensis is a creeping, rhizomatous perennial growing to about 20 cm (8 in) tall.
Androstachys johnsonii, the Lebombo ironwood, is a medium-sized Afrotropical tree species, and the sole member of the genus Androstachys in the Picrodendraceae. It is slow-growing, evergreen to deciduous, and dioecious, with flowers that are wind-pollinated. It is native to southeastern Africa and Madagascar, where it generally occurs gregariously on rocky hillsides, particularly in hot and dry situations. It produces a hard, durable wood which is of economic interest. Its specific name commemorates W. H. Johnson, a 19th-century Director of Agriculture in Mozambique. Four related species which are native to Madagascar, are usually placed in genus Stachyandra.
Ornithophily or bird pollination is the pollination of flowering plants by birds. This sometimes coevolutionary association is derived from insect pollination (entomophily) and is particularly well developed in some parts of the world, especially in the tropics, Southern Africa, and on some island chains. The association involves several distinctive plant adaptations forming a "pollination syndrome". The plants typically have colourful, often red, flowers with long tubular structures holding ample nectar and orientations of the stamen and stigma that ensure contact with the pollinator. Birds involved in ornithophily tend to be specialist nectarivores with brushy tongues and long bills, that are either capable of hovering flight or light enough to perch on the flower structures.
Loranthus is a genus of parasitic plants that grow on the branches of woody trees. It belongs to the family Loranthaceae, the showy mistletoe family. In most earlier systematic treatments it contains all mistletoe species with bisexual flowers, though some species have reversed to unisexual flowers. Other treatments restrict the genus to a few species. The systematic situation of Loranthus is not entirely clear.
Eremophila bignoniiflora, commonly known as Bignonia emu bush, creek wilga, dogwood, eurah, gooramurra, kurumbimi and river argee is a plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the Northern Territory and all mainland states of Australia. It is a spreading, weeping shrub or small tree with long, strap-like leaves. Its leaves are among the longest in the Eremophila genus and the flowers are also relatively large, reflecting their adaptation to pollination by birds.
Lysiana is a genus of hemiparasitic shrubs endemic to Australia, in the family Loranthaceae.
Ceropegia sandersonii is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland. Common names are parachute plant, fountain flower, and umbrella plant.
Cladostemon kirkii, commonly known as the three-finger bush, is a small deciduous tree belonging to the Capparaceae or caper family. It is a genus that has only this one species (monotypic). It is distributed through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal in Southern Africa.
Agelanthus is a genus of Afrotropical plants in family Loranthaceae. They grow in trees, including Acacia and Combretum species, as hemiparasitic shrubs of varying sizes. The host plant is penetrated by a single haustorium, and the stems typically have swollen, flower-producing nodes. The flowers are often closely clustered (fascicled) with the five petals (pentamerous) fused into a tube (gamopetalous). The flower may have a swollen base and the tubes open along unilateral, V-shaped splits. The filaments remain spirally rolled inward when the flowers open, while the styles are inconspicuous, slender filaments that are somewhat thickened in the middle. Berries range from pink to orange and red in colour, and are around 1 cm in diameter.
Atkinsonia is a hemi-parasitic shrub with oppositely set, entire leaves and yellowish, later rusty-red colored flowers, that is found in Eastern Australia. It is a monotypic genus, the only species being A. ligustrina, and is assigned to the showy mistletoe family, Loranthaceae. It is sometimes called Louisa's mistletoe.
Brexia is a dense evergreen shrub or small tree of usually around 5 m high, with alternately set, simple, leathery leaves with a short leaf stem and lanceolate to inverted egg-shaped leaf blades. The pentamerous flowers occur in cymes. The petals are greenish white, the samens are alternating with wide, incised staminodes. The superior ovary develops in a long ribbed fruit. Brexia naturally grows on the coast of East Africa, on Madagascar, the Comoros and Seychelles. Opinions differ about the number of species in Brexia. Sometimes the genus is regarded monotypic, B. madagascariensis being a species with a large variability, but other authors distinguish as many as twelve species. Common names for B. madagascariensis include jobiapototra, tsimiranjana, tsivavena, vahilava, voalava, voankatanana, voantalanina, voatalanina and votalanina, and mfukufuku (Swahili), mfurugudu and bwa kato (Seychelles).
Cycnium tubulosum, the vlei ink-flower, is a slender hemiparasitic perennial plant of the broomrape family. Its range includes much of southern and eastern Africa, from South Africa to Ethiopia, including Madagascar. It has creeping, straggling or upright stems, with few narrow, entire leaves and erect, white or pinkish, slightly zygomorph flowers on a long tube, with five lobes, reminiscent of a Phlox-flower. It may not always be fully dependent on the supply of minerals by other plants, but usually makes connections with the roots of grasses. It can be found in moist, short grasslands, reaching altitudes of about 1,550 m (5,090 ft). Its conservation status in South-Africa is "least concern".
Leucospermum saxosum is an upright evergreen shrub of up to 2 m (6.6 ft) high, that is assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has lance-shaped, leathery leaves and egg-shaped flower heads of about 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter, with initially yellow-orange flowers, later turning crimson, from which long styles stick out, giving the flower head the appearance of a pincushion. It is called escarpment pincushion in English. It grows on quartzite soils in the mountains on the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border and in eastern Transvaal.
Cecarria is a monotypic genus in the family Loranthaceae. The sole species is Cecarria obtusifolia, a hemiparasitic aerial shrub.
Bartholina burmanniana, the spider orchid, is a species of deciduous, geophytic, flowering plant in the family Orchidaceae. It is one of two species within the Bartholina genus, the other being B. etheliae. The species’ common name refers to its spreading and deeply cut lip that is said to resemble a spider's legs. It is native to the Eastern and the Western Cape Provinces of South Africa, flowering from the end of August to the middle of October and peaking in September. This is one of the species sometimes referred to as "spider orchid".
Protea dracomontana, the Nyanga protea or the Drakensberg sugarbush, is a flowering plant that belongs within the genus Protea. The plant is found in the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal and the escarpment of the Free State, as well as eastern Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe this species is only known from a disjunct subpopulation confined to the summit of Mount Nyangani.
Protea wentzeliana, also known as Wentzel's sugarbush, is a shrub belonging to the genus Protea.