The following is a list of abbreviations used in this work.
| Abbreviation | Description | 
| ± | more or less | 
| 0 | absent | 
| aff. | affinis: akin to | 
| agg. | aggregate species | 
| auct. | auctorum: of authors, but not of the original author | 
| BOL | Bolus Herbarium, University of Cape Town, South Africa | 
| C | Central Division of Zimbabwe | 
| c. | circa: about | 
| cf. | confer: comparable with; compare | 
| CL | Communal Land | 
| cm | centimetre(s) | 
| conf. | confirmed by | 
| det. | determined by | 
| Distr. | District (plural: Distrs) | 
| E | Eastern Division of Zimbabwe | 
| ed. | editor | 
| emend. | emendatus: emended | 
| Est. | Estate | 
| et al. | et alii: and others | 
| f. | (following an author's name): filius: son | 
| f. | (a taxonomic rank): forma: form | 
| FE | Flora of Ethiopia | 
| fig. | figure | 
| fl. | flower (plural: fls) | 
| Fm | Farm | 
| fr. | fruit (plural: frs) | 
| FSA | Flora of Southern Africa | 
| FTEA | Flora of Tropical East Africa | 
| FZ | Flora Zambesiaca | 
| GHS | Government Herbarium Salisbury (referred to in the numbering system of SRGH) | 
| Gt | Great | 
| hort. | hortulanorum: of gardeners | 
| in litt. | in litteris: in correspondence | 
| ined. | ineditus: not yet formally published | 
| infl. | inflorescence (plural: infls) | 
| Is | Islands | 
| K | The Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England | 
| lf | leaf (plural: lvs) | 
| lfless | leafless | 
| lflet | leaflet (plural: lflets) | 
| lfy | leafy | 
| m | metre(s) | 
| mm | millimetre(s) | 
| MAH | Mark Andrew Hyde | 
| Mt | Mount | 
| Mtn | Mountain | 
| N | Northern Division of Zimbabwe | 
| NBG | Compton Herbarium, National Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa. | 
| NE | North-east | 
| NP | National Park | 
| NR | Nature Reserve | 
| nr | near | 
| nom. illegit. | nomen illegitimum: latin for illegitimate name | 
| nom. nud. | nomen nudum: latin for naked name, a name published without a description of the taxon | 
| NW | North-west | 
| opp. | opposite | 
| p. | page | 
| p.p. | pro parte: in part, partly | 
| PA | Purchase Area | 
| per. seg. | perianth segment (plural: per. segs) | 
| pers. comm. | personal communication | 
| pl. | plural | 
| pp. | pages | 
| PRE | National Herbarium, Botanical Research Institute, Pretoria, South Africa | 
| q.v. | quod vide: which see | 
| R. | River | 
| Rd | Road | 
| RP | Recreational Park | 
| RS | Research Station | 
| S | Southern Division of Zimbabwe | 
| s.l. | sensu lato: in the broad sense | 
| s.n. | sine numero: (of herbarium specimen) without a collector’s number | 
| s.o. | seen only: (referring to a plant record) i.e. without a specimen being collected | 
| s.s. | sensu stricto: in the strict sense | 
| SE | South-east | 
| sp. | species (plural: spp.) | 
| SRGH | National Herbarium, Harare (Southern Rhodesia Government Herbarium) | 
| subsp. | subspecies (plural: subspp.) | 
| SW | South-west | 
| UKWF | Agnew and Agnew (1994) | 
| var. | varietas: variety | 
| vol. | volume | 
| W | Western Division of Zimbabwe |