Ruspolia (plant)

A genus of shrubby herbs or shrubs.[2][3][4] The leaves are arranged opposite,[3][5] they have visible linear cystoliths.[2] The flowers are in spikes or panicles,[3] or in 3-7-flowered,[5] cymules aggregated into long raceme-like cymes.[2] The flower has bracts and bracteoles (small bracts) that are narrow and inconspicuous.[3] The flower calyx is deeply 5-lobed,[2][3][4] with narrow,[3] or linear-lanceolate or filiform (thread-like) shaped lobes.[2] Sometimes with thread-like tips.[3] The corolla-tube is narrowly cylindrical,[3] and long and linear.[2][4] it is divided into 5 subequal lobes,[3] which are spreading or reflexed.[2] The corolla (petals of the flower) are usually red, but may be salmon-pink, scarlet or orange-red. They are also hairy and sometimes glandular, on the outside.[2] It has 2 stamens which are just exserted (projected beyond the corolla-tube).[2][3] They have anthers which are 1-celled. The ovary is 2-celled with 2 ovules in each cell or loculus.[2][3] Meaning it has 2-4-seeds. It has a filiform (thread-like) shaped style.[3] The fruit or seed capsule is club-shaped,[3] with solid stalk-like basal part.[2] Inside the capsule, the seeds are smooth and glabrous or variously ornamented.[3] They are situated on prominent hook-shaped retinaculas (thick fibres), without hygroscopic hairs.[2]

It has a chromosome count of 2n=21 [6]

Its native range is Tropical Africa, southern Africa and Madagascar. It is found in Angola, Botswana,[2] Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa (in KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Provinces) Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre and Zimbabwe.[1]

The genus name of Ruspolia is in honour of Eugenio Ruspoli (1866–1893), an Italian explorer and naturalist.[8] It was first described and published in H.G.A.Engler & K.A.E.Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. Vol.4 (Issue 3b) on page 354 in 1895.[1] The genus was recognized on 23 January 2009, by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service, but they do not list any known species.[9]

According to Kew:[1]

• Ruspolia australis (Milne-Redh.) Vollesen
• Ruspolia decurrens (Hochst. ex Nees) Milne-Redh.
• Ruspolia hypocrateriformis (Vahl) Milne-Redh.
• Ruspolia seticalyx (C.B.Clarke) Milne-Redh.

GRIN accepts just Ruspolia hypocrateriformis (Vahl) Milne-Redh. and Ruspolia seticalyx (C. B. Clarke) Milne-Redh..[9] Other sources claim that there are up to 6 species[6] Flora of Zimbabwe notes 5 species in Africa and Madagascar, (3 within Zimbabwe: Ruspolia australis, Ruspolia decurrens and Ruspolia seticalyx).[10]

Ruspolia hypocrateriformis (or 'Red Ruspolia'), is used as a garden shrub in South Africa and Namibia.[11]

• Daniel Oliver, Flora of Tropical Africa, Volume 5, L. Reeve and Company, 1900