Dorstenia
Description
Herbs, often partly ± succulent, rhizomatous or tuberous, or shrubs.
Leaves spirally arranged or distichous;
stipules lateral, free.
Inflorescences bisexual, in the leaf-axils, discoid to turbinate, in outline circular, elliptic, ± stellate or navicular, receptacle outside bracteate or mostly with marginal and/or submarginal appendages;
flowers connate.
stamens 2 or 3;
ovary free;
Fruit a dehiscent drupe, the white fleshy part pushing out the endocarp body (pyrene) if large or ejecting the endocarp body if small;
seed large and without endosperm or small and with endosperm, cotyledons thick and unequal or flat and equal.
Distribution
Asia present, Asia-Tropical: Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka present), W India present, continental Africa extending to Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, and Socotra present, neotropics present
The genus comprises 105 species, 46 in the Neotropics, 1 in Asia (Sri Lanka, W India), 58 in continental Africa extending to Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, and Socotra. Dorstenia contrajerva is introduced in several tropical countries.
Morphology
The majority of the species are herbaceous, eleven African species are woody (shrubs or even treelets) and some in Africa and Brazil are suffrutescent.
Citation
Bureau 1873 – In: Prodr.: 258
Rendle 1916 – In: Fl. Trop. Afr.: 25
Engl. 1888 – In: Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3: 79
L. 1754 – In: Gen. Pl. ed.: 56
Benth. & Hook.f. 1880 – In: Gen. Pl.: 366
Hook.f. 1888 – In: Fl. Brit. India: 494
Corner 1962: p. 250. – In: Gard. Bull. Singapore 19: (passim)
Endl. 1837: Gen. Pl.: 278
Leandri 1948 – In: Mem. Inst. Sci. Madagascar: 29
C.C. Berg 2001 – In: Fl. Neotrop. Monogr.: 144
Baill. 1875 – In: Hist. Pl.: 196
C.C. Berg & Hijman 1999 – In: Ilicifolia: 1