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biodiversity explorer

the web of life in southern Africa

Genus: Blepharis

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Asterids > Euasterid I > Order: Lamiales > Family: Acanthaceae

About 80 species, found from Africa and the Mediterranean to the East Indies. There are 56 species native to southern Africa.

Species native to southern Africa

List from Plants of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI), Flora of Zimbabwe and Flora of Mozambique.

Blepharis acanthodioides

Perennial herb growing to height of 0.75 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.

See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis acuminata

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.4 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Limpopo.

 

Blepharis aequisepala

Perennial dwarf shrub growing to height of 0.3 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Western Cape.

 

Blepharis angusta

Perennial herb, growing to height of 0.25 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > North West.

 

Blepharis aspera

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.35 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > North West, Limpopo, Zimbabwe.

See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis bainesii

Annual herb, growing to height of 0.4 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Botswana, Zimbabwe.

See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis breyeri

Perennial shrub or dwarf shrub, growing to height of 2 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Limpopo.

 

Blepharis capensis 

Perennial shrub or dwarf shrub, growing to height of 1 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape

Blepharis capensis

Blepharis dilatata

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.35 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Eastern Cape

 

Blepharis diversispina

Perennial shrub, dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.9 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > North West, Limpopo, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe.

See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis drummondii

Recorded from Zimbabwe. See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis espinosa

Perennial herb growing to height of 0.3 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng, Free State; Lesotho.

 

Blepharis fenestralis

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.35 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga.

 

Blepharis ferox

Perennial dwarf shrub or shrub, growing to height of 1 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Namibia.

 

Blepharis fleckii

Perennial dwarf shrub growing to height of 0.5 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Namibia.

 

Blepharis furcata

Perennial dwarf shrub, growing to height of 0.5 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Northern Cape; Namibia.

 

Blepharis gigantea

Perennial shrub growing to height of 2 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Namibia.

 

Blepharis glumacea

Recorded from Zimbabwe. See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis grossa

Annual herb growing to height of 0.35 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Northern Cape; Namibia.

 

Blepharis hirtinervia

Perennial dwarf shrub or shrub, growing to height of 0.6 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Eastern Cape.

 

Blepharis ilicina

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.25 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Eastern Cape.

 

Blepharis inaequalis

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.6 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Limpopo.

 

Blepharis inermis

Perennial dwarf shrub growing to height of 0.3 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Western Cape.

 

Blepharis innocua

Perennial herb growing to height of 0.35 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, Gauteng.

 

Blepharis integrifolia

Rankklits [Afrikaans]

Perennial herb growing to height of 0.4 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng, North West, Free State; Swaziland; Botswana; Namibia.

See Pooley (1998: 490); van Wyk & Malan (1997: 242).

See Flora of Zimbabwe.

Blepharis involucrata

Recorded from Zimbabwe. See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis laevifolia

Perennial herb growing to height of 0.2 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga.

 

Blepharis leendertziae

Annual herb growing to height of 0.6 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, Gauteng; Namibia; Botswana, Zimbabwe.

See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis longispica

Perennial herb growing to height of 0.35 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal.

 

Blepharis macra

Perennial dwarf shrub growing to height of 0.5 m.

Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Northern Cape; Namibia

 

Blepharis maderaspatensis

Perennial or annual herb growing to length of 2 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, Gauteng; Namibia; Botswana, Zimbabwe.

See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis marginata

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.1 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Northern Cape.

 

Blepharis meyeri

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.15 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Namibia.

 

Blepharis mitrata

Klapperbossie [Afrikaans]

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.2 m. See Shearing & van Heerden (1994: 142). Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape; Namibia.

Blepharis natalensis

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to length of 0.4 m.See Pooley (1998: 490). Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal.

Blepharis noli-me-tangere

Recorded from Zimbabwe. See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis obermeyerae

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.4 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Limpopo.

 

Blepharis obmitrata

Perennial shrub, dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 1 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Botswana; Namibia.

 

Blepharis obtusisepala

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to length of 0.45 m. See Pooley (1998: 490). Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal.

Blepharis petalidioides

Perennial shrub growing to height of 2 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Botswana.

 

Blepharis procumbens

Perennial herb growing to length of 1 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Eastern Cape.

 

Blepharis pruinosa

Perennial shrub, dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.75 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Namibia.

 

Blepharis pungens

Recorded from Zimbabwe. See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis sericea

Perennial herb growing to height of 0.2 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal.

 

Blepharis serrulata

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.2 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Limpopo, Gauteng, North West; Botswana.

 

Blepharis sinuata

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to length of 0.35 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Eastern Cape.

 

Blepharis spinifex

Perennial shrub or dwarf shrub, growing to height of 0.9 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Namibia.

 

Blepharis spinipes

Perennial dwarf shrub growing to height of 0.3 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Limpopo.

 

Blepharis squarrosa

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.3 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Limpopo, North West, Gauteng, Free State.

 

Blepharis stainbankiae

Perennial herb growing to length of 0.45 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Gauteng.

 

Blepharis subglabra

Perennial herb growing to length of 0.25 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal.

 

Blepharis subvolubilis

Perennial shrub, dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.5 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, Gauteng; Botswana.

See Pooley (1998: 492); Onderstall (1984: 182).

See Flora of Zimbabwe.

Blepharis swaziensis

Perennial herb growing to length of 0.4 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal; Swaziland.

 

Blepharis tenuiramea

Annual herb growing to length of 0.75 m. Distribution in southern Africa: Botswana; Namibia. See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis transvaalensis

Perennial herb growing to length of 0.35 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng; Botswana. See Flora of Zimbabwe.

 

Blepharis uniflora

Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.3 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Limpopo, Gauteng.

 

 Publications

  • Obermeyer, A.A. 1937. The South African species of Blepharis. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 19,1: 105-139.

  • Onderstall, J. 1984. Transvaal Lowveld and Escarpment including the Kruger National Park. South African Wild Flower Guide 4. Botanical Society of Southern Africa, Kirstenbosch.

  • Pooley, E. 1998. A Field Guide to Wild Flowers KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region. Natal Flora Publications Trust, Durban.

  • Shearing, D. & van Heerden, K. 1994. Karoo. South African Wild Flower Guide 6. Botanical Society of Southern Africa, Kirstenbosch.

  • van Wyk, B. & Malan, S. 1997. Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Highveld. 2nd edition. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.

  • Welman, W.G. 2003. Acanthaceae. In Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds), Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14: 92-106. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.