3942.000 Tropaeolum L. - Nasturtiums

Herbs, annual or perennial, scandent, creeping or twining, ± succulent, usually glabrous, roots usually tuberous. Leaves alternate, digitately angled or peltate; lamina simple, entire or lobed. Inflorescence axillary, solitary or sometimes umbellate. Flowers irregular, 5-merous, very showy, yellow or red; sepals 5, one produced into a long spur. Petals 5, clawed, often cut or fringed, the 2 upper ones unlike the others and usually smaller and inserted in the opening of the spur. Stamens 8, unequal. Fruit of 3 fleshy mesocarps, each 1-seeded. Seeds without endosperm.

Worldwide: 87 species from S America

Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon.