Kotschya capitulifera (Welw. ex Baker) Dewit. & P.A. Duvign.
var. capitulifera

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Kotschya capitulifera var. capitulifera

Habit
Open wooded grassland drainage system
Tondwa GMA, Nsama District
Apr 2024
Photo: Nick Wightman

Kotschya capitulifera var. capitulifera

Inflorescence
Open wooded grassland drainage system
Tondwa GMA, Nsama District
Apr 2024
Photo: Nick Wightman

Kotschya capitulifera var. capitulifera

Flower
Open wooded grassland drainage system
Tondwa GMA, Nsama District
Apr 2024
Photo: Nick Wightman

Kotschya capitulifera var. capitulifera

Flower
Open wooded grassland drainage system
Tondwa GMA, Nsama District
Apr 2024
Photo: Nick Wightman

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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms: Damapana capitulifera (Welw. ex Baker) Kuntze
Smithia capitulifera Welw. ex Baker
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:
Description:
Annual ascending or erect unbranched to much branched aromatic herb, 5–45 cm tall, ± decumbent at the base. Stems glabrous or covered with both bristly and short curved hairs. Leaves 6–20-foliolate; leaflets 2–6 × 0.5–1.5 mm, oblong, elliptic, obliquely obovate-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute, terminated by a bristle, practically glabrous or with a few long bristly hairs on the nerves and margins; petiole 2–6 mm long; rhachis 4–19 mm long; stipules 3–4 × 1 mm, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, scarious, persistent. Inflorescences small terminal dense heads, 5–18 mm in diameter; peduncles obsolete; pedicels 2 mm long; bracts 2–4 × 2–3 mm, ovate, glabrous or pubescent; bracteoles 2–5 × 0.5–1 mm, falcate, elliptic or lanceolate, glabrous or serrulate with long cilia. Calyx 2-lipped; lips scarious and ciliate, 2.5–4 mm long, the upper lip shortly divided into 2 acute or acuminate lobes, the lower shortly divided into 3 obtuse or acute, ovate, elliptic or lanceolate lobes. Standard blue, pink, white or violet, 4–5.5(11) × 3.5–4(6) mm, ± obovate, glabrous; wings and keel similarly coloured. Fruit 2.5 mm long, of 2 articles; articles 1.2 × 1.2 mm, kettle drum-shaped, glabrous. Seeds dark reddish-brown, longest dimension c. 0.8 mm, oblong-reniform, slightly produced at one end of hilum.
Type location:
Angola
Notes:
Derivation of specific name: capitulifera: bearing a small head(s), a reference to the head-like inflorescence
Habitat:
Altitude range: (metres)
Flowering time: Apr - Jun
Worldwide distribution: DRC, Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe
National distribution: W,S
Growth form(s): Annual.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters: Display spot characters for this species
Literature:

Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 23.

Drummond, R.B. (1972). A list of Rhodesian Legumes. Kirkia 8(2) Page 223.

Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 49.

Verdcourt, B. (2000). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(6) Pages 137 - 138.


Other sources of information about Kotschya capitulifera var. capitulifera:

Our websites:

Flora of Zambia: Kotschya capitulifera var. capitulifera

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Kotschya capitulifera
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Kotschya capitulifera
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Kotschya capitulifera
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Kotschya capitulifera
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Kotschya capitulifera
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Kotschya capitulifera
JSTOR Plant Science: Kotschya capitulifera
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Kotschya capitulifera
Plants of the World Online: Kotschya capitulifera
Tropicos: Kotschya capitulifera
Wikipedia: Kotschya capitulifera


Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-25

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2025). Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Kotschya capitulifera var. capitulifera.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=130640, retrieved 12 April 2025

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