Sericorema sericea (Schinz) Lopr.

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Photo: Warren McCleland
About 7 km upstream of Ngonye Falls, Sioma

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Synonyms:	Marcellia sericea (Schinz) C.B. Clarke Sericocoma sericea Schinz
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Much-branched, bushy annual herb, up to 60 cm high, growing from a slender taproot. Stem and branches rather wiry, young parts green and with tufts of woolly hairs. Leaves linear to needle-shaped, 20-60 mm long, hairless or woolly only when very young, usually with axillary short shoots or leaf-clusters and tufts of woolly hairs. Inflorescence elongating, sometimes to c. 30 cm but often less, the axis hairless to more or less woolly; partial inflorescences separated by 1.5–3 cm, 1–3 flowered with lateral brushes of whitish hairs. Bracts lanceolate, 4–5 mm long, hairless or somewhat woolly, the darker midrib ending in a mucro. Fruiting partial inflorescence a fluffy ball c. 1.5–2 cm in diameter. Fruit oblong-ovoid, c. 3.5 mm long, smooth and hairless throughout.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	sericea: with silky appressed hairs, sericeous.
Habitat:	in open Acacia scrub, mopane, sandveld, limestone pavement, among quartzite blocks, on sandy or stony soil, sometimes in "black turf".
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
Botswana distribution:	N,SW,SE
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Literature:	Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 16. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 22. Townsend, C.C. (1988). Amaranthaceae Flora Zambesiaca 9(1) Pages 68 - 70. (Includes a picture).

Other sources of information about Sericorema sericea:

Our websites:

Flora of Zambia: Sericorema sericea
Flora of Zimbabwe: Sericorema sericea

External websites:

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