Barleria obtusa Nees
  • Linnaea 15: 358 (1841)


Cite taxon page as 'WFO (2023): Barleria obtusa Nees. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000560446. Accessed on: 10 Jun 2023'

Morphology

Sprawling, shortly hairy shrub to 2 m. Leaves opposite, ovate, often obtuse. Flowers in lax axillary cymes, mauve to blue; bracts subspathulate, glandular-hairy.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 1
    • ]. 

    Perennial herb or subshrub 30-300 cm tall, often scrambling or scandent, sometimes a dwarf shrublet; stems with mixed ± dense short white retrorse or spreading hairs and few to numerous long coarse pale-buff spreading or ascending hairs; upper internodes sometimes also glandular-pubescent. Leaves ovate or elliptic, 2-8 x 1-3.5(4.5) cm, base and apex both shortly attenuate to rounded, surfaces with pale spreading to subappressed hairs, most numerous on margin and veins beneath where sometimes with a swollen base, sometimes with short glandular hairs along margin; lateral veins 3-5 pairs; petiole 5-17 mm long. Inflorescence axillary, flowers solitary or usually in a lax 2-7-flowered unilateral or partially dichasial cyme 3-11 cm long, on spreading and often looping peduncles; primary peduncle 8-45 mm long, indumentum as stem but glandular hairs often more numerous; bracteoles linear or narrowly oblanceolate, recurved, 2-16.5 x 0.5-1.8 mm, margin entire, apex acute; pedicels 0-3 (12) mm long. Calyx green with conspicuous darker parallel primary venation giving a striate appearance; outer lobes subequal or posterior lobe somewhat longer, narrowly oblong-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 8-18 x 2-5 mm, base cuneate, margin entire or with minute teeth formed by swollen hair bases, apex often recurved, acute- to rounded-apiculate, anterior lobe more rarely notched, surfaces with numerous pale-buff or greyish ascending to subappressed hairs and spreading glandular hairs, latter sometimes restricted to margin; lateral lobes pale, linear-lanceolate, 5.5-12 mm long. Corolla 26-44 mm long, pale blue to mauve, with paler tube and with purple stripes in throat, rarely white throughout, mixed glandular-pilose and retrorse eglandular-pubescent externally; tube 17-26 mm long, narrowly campanulate above attachment point of stamens; limb subregular; abaxial lobe 9.5-19 x 8-18 mm, offset by 2 (5) mm; lateral lobes as abaxial but 7-15.5 mm wide; adaxial lobes 9-16.5 x 5.5-10.5 mm. Stamens attached 7.5-13 mm from base of corolla tube; filaments 16-25 mm long; anthers 3-4 mm long; lateral staminodes 2.2-4 mm long, pubescent, antherodes 0.6-0.9 mm long. Ovary glabrous or with few short ascending hairs towards apex; style glabrous; stigma linear, 0.8-1.8 mm long. Capsule 13-16.5 mm long, glabrous or largely so. Seeds 4-4.5 mm long and wide.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 2
    • ]. 

    Shrub, scrambler, up to 1 m high, unarmed, hairy. Flowers in many-flowered, loose cymes; flowers long-pedicelled. Outer sepals narrow, oblong, broadened towards apex.. Bracts linear, often curved. Flowers bluish purple.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 3
    • ]. 

    Shrub, up to 1 m high; sparsely hairy. Stems scandent with prominent internodes. Leaves drooping, petiolate; blade ovate to broadly ovate, up to 70 x 35 mm, base rounded, apex rounded or broadly acuminate, margins entire, flat, pubescent on both surfaces. Flowers: in 1-4-flowered cymes, crowding towards tops of branchlets; bracts linear, often curved; corolla circumscissile at base, falling as a whole, ± 30 mm long, bluish purple; Feb.-Sep.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 4
    • ]. 

    Habitat

    Bush and forest margins.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 1
    • ]. 

    Bushland on rocky hillslopes and sandy soils, margins of coastal or riverine forest, streamside thicket, roadsides; to 300 m.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 2
    • ]. 

    Hillsides.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 3
    • ]. 

    Vredefort Dome Savanna. In shady places.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 4
    • ]. 

    Distribution

    Humansdorp to Zimbabwe.

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 1
    • ]. 

    Mozambique. Also in Swaziland and South Africa (North West, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal).

  • Provided by: [B].e-Flora of South Africa
    • Source: [
    • 2
    • ]. 

      Bibliography

    • 1 Balkwill, K. 2012. Acanthaceae: Barleria L. 257 - 257. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
    • 2 Darbyshire, I. 2015. 126. Acanthaceae (Part 2): 27. Barleria L. Fl. Zambes. 8(6): 37 - 122. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London.
    • 3 Herman, PPJ; Retief, E. 1997. Plants of thenorthern provinces of South Africa: keys and diagnostic characters. Strelitzia 6: 1 - 681. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
    • 4 Retief, E; Meyer, NL. 2017. Acanthaceae. In: E Retief & NL Meyer (eds), Plants of the Free State: Inventory and identification guide. Strelitzia 38: 148 - 155. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.

     Information From

    Acanthaceae
    http://www.worldfloraonline.org/organisation/Acanthaceae
    World Flora Online Data. 2021.
    • A CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).
    e-Flora of South Africa
    e-Flora of South Africa. v1.21. 2018. South African National Biodiversity Institute. http://ipt.sanbi.org.za/iptsanbi/resource?r=flora_descriptions&v=1.21
    • B All Rights Reserved
    World Flora Online Consortium
    http://www.worldfloraonline.org/organisation/WFO
    World Flora Online Data. 2017.
    • C CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).