5230.000 Bergia L.

Wild, H. (1961) Elatinaceae Flora Zambesiaca 1(2)

Description of the genus

Prostrate or erect, annual or perennial herbs or undershrubs, often pubescent, sometimes glandular-pubescent. Leaves opposite, usually sessile or subsessile, obovate, lanceolate, elliptic or linear, entire or serrate; stipules usually denticulate or puberulous at the margin. Flowers axillary, sessile or pedicelled, solitary or fascicled or in small cymes, sometimes crowded and verticillate. Sepals 4–5 (6), free, lanceolate, elliptic or oblong, usually keeled and with hyaline margins, imbricate. Petals 4–5 (6), free, as long as or slightly shorter than the sepals, oblong, or linear-oblong. Ovary 5 (rarely 4)-locular; carpels almost free. Fruit a septicidal capsule with the valves separating from the central column from above and so releasing the numerous seeds. Seeds subcylindric with rounded ends or 3-angled, often shiny, brown or almost black; embryo straight or curved.

Worldwide: 29 species, cosmopolitan.

Botswana: 8 taxa.

Bergia pentheriana

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
ammannioides Hayne ex Roth
capensis L.
decumbens Planch. ex Harv.SEDescription, Image
glutinosa Dinter & Schulze-MenzN
pentheriana Keissl.N,SWDescription, Image
polyantha Sond.NDescription, Image
salaria Bremek.
salaria × decumbens

Other sources of information about Bergia:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: Bergia
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Bergia
Flora of Mozambique: Bergia
Flora of Zambia: Bergia
Flora of Zimbabwe: Bergia

External websites:

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

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: Bergia.
https://www.botswanaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=965, retrieved 28 March 2024

Site software last modified: 12 October 2020 10:40pm
Terms of use