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Afrocirsium
Genus of flowering plants From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Afrocirsium is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae. It includes three species of thistles native to the mountains of eastern tropical Africa.[2]
They are spiny perennial herbs growing 0.5 to 2.5 meters tall. They have the plumose pappus characteristic of genus Cirsium, but have distinct characteristics like phyllaries with well-developed pectinate appendages which are not present in Cirsium and the other genera in the Carduus-Cirsium group.[1]
All are native to Afromontane or Afroalpine regions of eastern tropical Africa between 1,600 and 4,600 meters elevation,[1] ranging from South Sudan and Ethiopia to Zambia.[2]
The species now placed in genus Afrocirsium were previously placed in genus Cirsium. The sub-Saharan African species have morphological and karyological features of genera Carduus and Cirsium. A phylogenetic study by Moreyra et al. concluded that these African species formed a clade distinct from Carduus and Cirsium, and sister to the newly described genus Afrocarduus.[1]
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Species
Three species are accepted.[2][1]
- Afrocirsium buchwaldii (O.Hoffm.) Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna – South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia
- Afrocirsium schimperi (Vatke) Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna – Ethiopia
- Afrocirsium straminispinum (C.Jeffrey) Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna – Ethiopia
References
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