Nephrophyllum
Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication:
NEPHROPHYLLUM A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 277 (1851).
Tribe:
Dichondreae
Synonyms:
Hygrocharis Hochst., Pl. Schimp. exs. Abyss. sect. II: 572; ex Hallier f., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 16: 569 (1893), non Hygrocharis Nees, Mart. Fl. Bras. 2(1): 147 adnot. (1842).
Type Species:
Nephrophyllum abyssinicum Hochst. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 77, t. 76 (1851); Engler, Hochgebirgs fl. Trop. Afr. 345 (1892).
Habit:
Herb; annual or perennial; Stem prostrate, rooting at the nodes, glabrous to puberulous.
Leaves:
Leaves petiolate; Leaf blade reniform to suborbicular on outline, glabrous to puberulous, retuse at the apex, cordate at the base.
Flowers:
Flower solitary, axillary, bracts ovate, c. 1 x 1 mm. Pedicel 1 mm long on flowering specimens, 5- 10 mm long when fruiting, elongating to 27 mm in fruit. Calyx membranous, 5-lobed, less than 0-5 mm long, forming a tube. Corolla white to pink, 3-6 mm long, campanulate, 5-lobed, lobes shallow and unclear, puberulous on mid-petaline areas. Stamens 5, inserted in three series, filaments unequal, the ovoid anthers glabrous. Ovary 1-locular with 2-4 ovules; styles two, unequal, attached terminally on ovary, 1.2-2 mm long. Stigmas club-shaped.
Fruits:
Fruit a utricle, developing underground with a pedicel to 27 mm long, one-lobed, glabrous, whitish.
Seeds:
Seed 1, brown, 2-3 x 2.5 mm, obovoid, glabrous.
Distribution:
Known from Ethiopia and Eritrea (only one species). map
Countries:
Ethiopia
Eritrea
Ecology:
Heavily
grazed pastures, open ground, between crevices of bare rocks on steep slopes,
1650-2700 m altitude.
Number of Species:
1
References:
Sebsebe Demissew. 2006. Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 5: 161-231.
Sebsebe Demissew & D.F. Austin. 1995. The genus Nephrophyllum (Convolvulaceae, tribe Dichondreae) in Ethiopia. Kew Bull. 50: 103-108.