5538.000 Combretum Loefl.

Description of the genus

Trees, shrubs, or woody climbers. Leaves opposite, whorled, subopposite or rarely alternate, usually entire; petiole sometimes persisting and forming a ± hooked spine. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, 4-5-merous. Calyx 4-5 (rarely more). Petals usually 4-5, variously coloured. Stamens twice as many as petals, in 1 or 2 series. Ovary inferior. Fruit 4-5-winged. A generally recognisable genus but Schrebera trichoclada in leaf looks very similar. The flowers of many species resemble those of willows (Salix species), hence their common name of Bushwillow.

Worldwide: 250 species in the tropics, excluding Australia

Botswana: 23 taxa.

The larvae of the following species of insect eat species of this genus:
Coeliades forestan (Striped policeman)
Coeliades pisistratus (Two-pip policeman)
Hemerophanes Hemerophanes libyra (Variegated Vapourer)
Pseudaphelia apollinaris (Apollo moth)
Trabala charon
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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
adenogonium Steud. ex A. Rich.NDescription, Image
albopunctatum Suess.N
apiculatum Sond. subsp. apiculatum N,SEDescription, Image
apiculatum Sond. subsp. leutweinii (Schinz) ExellN,SE
celastroides Welw. ex M.A. Lawson subsp. celastroides NDescription, Image
collinum Fresen.[Agg]N,SWDescription, Image
elaeagnoides KlotzschNDescription, Image
engleri Schinz
erythrophyllum (Burch.) Sond.SEDescription, Image
hereroense Schinz subsp. hereroense N,SW,SEDescription, Image
imberbe WawraN,SEDescription, Image
microphyllum KlotzschSEDescription, Image
molle R.Br ex G. DonN,SEDescription, Image
mossambicense (Klotzsch) Engl.NDescription, Image
patelliforme Engl. & DielsDescription
platypetalum Welw. ex M.A. Lawson subsp. oatesii (Rolfe) ExellSEDescription, Image
platypetalum Welw. ex M.A. Lawson subsp. platypetalum
psidioides Welw.[Agg]SEDescription, Image
psidioides Welw. subsp. dinteri (Schinz) ExellN?Description
psidioides Welw. subsp. glabrum Exell?Description
psidioides Welw. subsp. psidioides SEDescription
schumannii Engl.N
zeyheri Sond.N,SEDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Combretum:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: Combretum
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Combretum
Flora of Malawi: Combretum
Flora of Mozambique: Combretum
Flora of Zambia: Combretum
Flora of Zimbabwe: Combretum
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Combretum

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Combretum
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Combretum
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Combretum
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Combretum
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Combretum
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Combretum
JSTOR Plant Science: Combretum
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Combretum
Plants of the World Online: Combretum
Tropicos: Combretum
Wikipedia: Combretum

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Botswana: Genus page: Combretum.
https://www.botswanaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1007, retrieved 19 March 2024

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