2074.060 Erianthemum Tiegh.

Hemiparasitic shrubs with hairs stellate and dendritic. Leaves opposite, subopposite or partly alternate. Flowers few, sessile in heads; bract ovate to subcircular. Calyx cup-shaped to tubular, ± entire to shortly toothed. Corolla opening radially, joined to less than halfway, 5-lobed, mostly yellow to green, silky-villous or at least hairy on the buds; tube constricted above a basal swelling; lobes spreading-reflexed from below middle. Filaments inserted well up the corolla lobes, elongate, generally articulated and often breaking off near the middle. Berry with persistent calyx, urceolate, orange, reddish or blue-green. Seeds orange to red.

Derivation of name: from Greek: erion meaning wool and anthemon, flower, referring to the woolly appearance of the flowers.

Worldwide: 16 species in eastern and southern Africa, from Ethiopia to the Cape.

Botswana: 3 taxa.