Hoslundia opposita [family LAMIACEAE]

Herbarium
South African National Biodiversity Institute, Compton Herbarium, Cape Town (SAM)
Collection
Flora of Southern Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of South Africa, (2003) Author: Dr J.P. Roux
Names
Hoslundia opposita [family LAMIACEAE]
Common names
H. verticillata Vahl, Enum. PI. 1: 213 (1804); Benth., Lab. 706 (1835); in DC. Prodr. 12: 54 (1848); Hiern, Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. 1,4: 860 (1900). H. opposita var. verticillata (Vahl) Bak. in F.T.A. 5: 377 (1900). Type: Senegal, Dupuis s.n. H. decumbens Benth. in DC, Prodr. 12: 54 (1848); Briq. in Bull. Herb. Boissier ser. 2,3: 661 (1903); Cooke in F.C. 5,1: 298 (1910). H. opposita var. decumbens (Benth.) Bak. in F.T.A. 5: 377 (1900); Ross, Fl. Natal 305 (1972). Type: Delagoa Bay, Forbes s.n. Orthosiphon physocalycinus A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 180 (1851). Type: Ethiopia, Petit s.n.
Information
Spreading, erect or subscandent herb or soft shrub, 0,6—1,2 m tall. Leaves petiolate, opposite or sometimes ternate; blade grey-green, ovate-lanceolate to ovate-elliptic, 35-65 (-75) x 18-25 mm, sparingly pubescent to fairly densely ap-pressed tomentose, apex acute, base cune-ate, margin crenate-dentate; petiole 3—8 mm long. Inflorescence consisting of rather lax panicles or racemes; verticils 2—4-flowered, 3—5 mm apart; bracts minute, linear-lanceolate, 1,5—2 mm long; pedicels slender, 2,5—4 mm long, articulate at the top. Calyx subequally 5-toothed, 4—4,5 mm long at flowering; teeth narrow, 1 — 1,5 mm long; tube cylindric, becoming globose and fleshy in fruit. Corolla bilabiate, white or cream, 6—7 mm long; tube straight, subcylindric; upper lip short, erect, 1 mm long, 3-lobed; lower lip patent, 1,5 mm long. Stamens didynamous, only the lower fertile, declinate, attached near the throat, exserted by 3—5 mm; the upper pair minute, attached in the throat, included. Disc produced on one or two sides, one lobe often exceedin
Habitat
The orange-coloured fleshy fruits are edible anc are relished by birds. The leaves have a strong anc rather unpleasant smell, said to repel bees, and havs been recorded as being used in the collection of honey.
Use
Hoslundia opposita Vahl, Enum. PI. 1: 212 (1804); Benth., Lab. 706 (1835); in DC, Prodr. 12: 54 (1848); Bak. inF.T.A. 5: 377 (1900); Morton in J. Linn. Soc, Bot. 58: 241 (1962); in F.W.T.A. edn 2,2: 456 (1963); Launert & Schreiber in F.S.W.A. 123: 14 (1969); Compton, Fl. Swaziland 506 (1976). Type: Guinea, Thonning s.n.
Range
Found in northern S.W.A./Namibia and Botswa­na, northern and eastern Transvaal, Swaziland and coastal Natal as far south as Port Shepstone, in tropical and subtropical open woodland. Widespread throughout tropical Africa to Senegal, Sudan and Ethiopia. Map 102.
Hoslundia opposita [family LAMIACEAE]
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