Citation: L., Sp. Pl. 98 (1753).

Derivation: About 100 species in Eurasia through tropical East Africa to South Africa.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: None

Description:
Biennial or perennial herbs with leaves petiolate to sessile, entire or serrate to pinnately lobed, exstipulate, connected across the node by a ridge.

Inflorescence a head subtended by 2 whorls of involucral bracts and individual flowers each in the axil of a scale-like bract; involucel with distinctive vertical grooves, forming a tube from the base of the ovary and continued into a distinctly veined corona of equal length and with incurved margins when mature; calyx with 5 bristle-like lobes covered with fine hairs and stalked glands; corolla funnel-shaped, with 5 lobes of varying sizes around the margin of the flower head, or with 5 subequal lobes in the centre of the inflorescence; stamens 4, alternating with the corolla lobes except the posterior one absent; anthers versatile, exserted; ovary inferior, 1-celled, with 1 pendulous ovule.

Fruit ellipsoid, surrounded by a persistent involucel and crowned by persistent calyx lobes.

Biology: No text

Author: Not yet available