Pterocephalus frutescensHochst. [family DIPSACACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Pollak,J.,
Related name
Pterocephalus frutescens
Pterocephalus quartinianus
Scabiosa frutescens
Flora
Entry for PTEROCEPHALUS frutescens Hochst. ex A. Rich. [family DIPSACACEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora Somalia
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora Somalia, (2000) Author: by M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
Names
PTEROCEPHALUS frutescensHochst. ex A. Rich. [family DIPSACACEAE], (1848);
Scabiosa frutescens(Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Hiern [family DIPSACACEAE], (1877). Fig. 306. [type as above]
Information
Woody-based perennial herb to small shrub, up to c. 0.7 m tall; stems pubescent. Leaves sessile, linear to lanceolate, 5–60 x 1–10 mm, mucronate at the apex, entire or sometimes lobed, pubescent or glabrous. Heads solitary, 2–4.5 cm in diam.; involucral bracts lanceolate, up to 20 x 4 mm (in Somalia generally 8–12 x 1.5–2 mm), acute, pubescent; epicalyx 4–6 mm long, with an almost entire to somewhat toothed margin, densely pilose. Calyx almost flat, with plumose bristles up to 5–13 mm long. Corolla pink, pubescent outside, the marginal flowers 10–20 mm long, the inner flowers smaller.
Range
N1–3
Altitude range
1500–1980 m.
Distribution
SOMALIA Thulin, Abdi Dahir & Ahmed Osman 9486; Thulin 10919; Bally 11709.
Distribution (external)
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Kenya
N Tanzania
Yemen
Notes
Mediagani (Som.). The Somali plants, particularly the ones on gypsum in N2 and N3, tend to be woodier and have narrower and more succulent leaves than plants in other areas, but the species is very polymorphic and the variation seems continuous.
