Caesia

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Caesia

Description

Leaves basal, subulate to linear, expanded at the base to form a sheath. Inflorescence a raceme or more often a panicle. Ovary superior, sessile, globose or subglobose, 3-celled; Capsule dehiscing loculicidally; Seeds angular or globose, usually solitary in each locule.

Distribution

Asia-Tropical, Australasia, Cape Province present, Madagascar present, S. Papua New Guinea present, South Africa present, W. Distr.: Wassi Kussa area present
Madagascar (1 sp.), South Africa (2 spp.; Cape Province) and Australia (7-9 spp.), of which one species also occurs in Malesia: S. Papua New Guinea (W. Distr.: Wassi Kussa area).

Notes

Generically this group is regarded as well-defined by the spirally-twisting perianth and 2-ovuled locules. The South African monotypic genus Nanolirion Bth. (1883) was formerly distinguished by having a 1-3-flowered inflorescence (Phillips, 1951), but Obermeyer (1973) placed it under Caesia.

Citation

Baker 1897 – In: Fl. Cap.: 400
Ewart 1930: Fl. Vict.: 289
Bailey 1902 – In: Queensl. Fl.: 1632
Obermeyer 1973 – In: Bothalia: 122
Krause 1930 – In: E. & P., Nat. Pfl. Fam., ed. 2, 15a: 288
Black 1943 – In: Fl. S. Austr.: 192
Baker 1876 – In: J. Linn. Soc. Bot.: 357
Payens 1957 – In: Nova Guinea n.s.: 383
Bth. 1878 – In: Fl. Austr.: 46
Phillips 1951: Gen. S. Afr. Fl. Pl., ed. 2: 1002
Schlittler 1957: p. 6. – In: Mitt. Bot. Mus. Un. Zurich: map
Hutch. 1959 – In: Fam. Fl. Pl., ed. 2: 596