Eriocephalus scariosus
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Full name: | Eriocephalus scariosus DC. |
| Location: | Farm Urikos (2415AC) |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Kapokbossie |
| English common name(s): | - |
| Synonym(s): | Eriocephalus capitellatus auct. - non DC., Dinter-- misapplied name Eriocephalus rangei Muschl. Eriocephalus scariosissimus S.Moore Eriocephalus virgatus Dinter |
| Status: | Near-endemic |
| Description: | Leaves alternate, linear, incurved, subacute, entire, thinly and closely pubescent; pedicels 2–3 times as long as the fl.-heads, the lower axillary, sub-racemose, the uppermost subumbellate; outer inv. scales glabrous or silky with a green middle and broadly membranous, white margin; inner not septiferous; rays cuneate, elongate, 3-toothed. Leaves about an inch long, scattered. Rays longer and proportionably narrower than in other species. The pubescence is sometimes copious, sometimes scanty. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Capensis) Slender, erect, much-branched, almost evergreen, strongly aromatic shrubs, 0.5-1.5 m high, 1-2 m in diameter. Old stems dark brown, deeply grooved; older branches yellow-brown, fairly smooth to slightly grooved, thin, glabrous; dolichoblasts green-yellow, cylindrical, smooth, sparsely to densely sericeous with sessile glands; brachyblasts short-lived, at most 2 mm long. Leaves alternate, sparse on dolichoblasts, dense on brachyblasts, densely sericeous to glabrous, leaves of dolichoblasts and brachyblasts of the same size and length, linear-lanceolate, 4-12 x 0.5-1.5 mm, entire, semisucculent, silvery white to green-grey to bright green, basally adaxially concave, abaxially convex, with glands in cavities on leaves. Capitula heterogamous radiate, solitary on brachyblasts or racemose, terminal on flowering shoots, 4-6 x 3-6 mm; peduncles slender, 6-12 mm long, sericeous. Involucral bracts 4 or 5, oval, 4x3 mm, with a green central strip surrounded by a broad membranous margin. Paleae: those of marginal florets connate, 4 mm long, sometimes only partially connate, fringed margins of connate paleae intertwined, abaxially densely long-lanate, hairs septate; those of disc florets narrowly linear, 4.0 x 0.5 mm, membranous, margins fringed. Ray florets (1)2(3), 4 mm long, female; corolla white, tubular, lamina strap-shaped to narrowly cuneate, 3-lobed or 3-dentate, up to 6 x 2 mm, much longer than flattened style branches. Ovary (and cypsela) oblong, flattened. Seed obovoid, flattened, 2.5 mm long. Disc florets 4-9, 4-5 mm long, functionally male, with sterile ovary; corolla tubular, 5-lobed, glandular abaxially. Style cylindrical, apex globose, with sweeping hairs. Stamens 5, distinctly exserted at maturity. Receptacle after anthesis with dense, white, long-pilose indumentum between involucral bracts and connate marginal paleae. Chromosome number: In = 72. Flowering time: correlated with rainfall, varying from December to April and June to September. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Southern Africa) Terminale groeipunt nie omvorm tot stingeldoring, Blare spiraalgewys (nie teenoorstaande), Blare nie veersnydig, blomme wit of geel, Blare semi-sukkulent, knuppelvormig, lintblomme met opvallende tongvormige gedeelte. (from MAN Müller PhD thesis, 1988) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Photographer: | AA Dreyer |
| Date of photograph: | 30 Apr 2011 |
| Camera make: | Panasonic |
| Camera model: | DMC-FZ45 |
| Lens aperture: | f/2.8 |
| Shutter speed: | 1/80 s |
| ISO speed: | 80 |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
