7359.000 Syncolostemon E. Mey.

Annual or perennial herbs, suffrutices or small trees. Leaves opposite. Flowers bisexual; verticils 2-6-flowered in a usually lax inflorescence; sometimes topped with a crown of brightly coloured terminal bracts. Calyx 2-lipped; upper lip ovate, entire, accrescent in fruit; lower lip with 4 teeth or with lateral lobes. Corolla white to pink or purple. Stamens declinate, held over or included within the anterior (lower) corolla lip. Anterior and posterior filament pairs separated by a clear gap at the insertion point in the corolla tube; anterior filaments fused together. Ovaries glabrous. Nutlets brown.

Derivation of name: From the Greek: syn- meaning united; kolos meaning curtailed, stunted; stemon meaning pillar or stamen; probably referring to the fused anterior filaments.

Worldwide: 46 species, mostly native to eastern South Africa, but also in tropical Africa, Madagascar and India.

Zimbabwe: 8 taxa.