8751.000 Vernonia Schreb.

CYANTHILLIUM Blume

GYMNANTHEMUM Cass.

HILLIARDIELLA H. Rob.

LINZIA Sch. Bip. ex Walp.

ORBIVESTUS H. Rob.

POLYDORA Fenzl

VERNONIASTRUM H. Rob.

Herman, P.P.J. & Swelankomo, N. (2011) Vernonia (Tribe Vernonieae) and related genera in Southern Africa: updates and corrections Bothalia 41(1) 176-178

Wild, H. (1978) The Compositae of the Flora Zambesiaca area. 8. Vernonieae (Vernonia). Kirkia 11(1) 31-127

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs (often with annual stems from woody rootstocks), small to large shrubs, woody scramblers or small trees. Leaves alternate, simple. Capitula homogamous, discoid; florets normally bisexual and fertile. Phyllaries free in 2-many series, imbricate. Corolla various shades of purple, blue, or creamy-white, regularly 5-lobed. Pappus 2-seriate with an outer short whorl of scales or setae and an inner whorl of longer setae.

Derivation of name: Named after William Vernon, English botanist of the late 17th century.

Comment: Studies, since the 1970s, based on chromosome counts, chemistry, pollen and DNA, have shown that the genus Vernonia is paraphyletic with two centres of origin, one in S America and one in Africa and SE Asia (Herman & Swelankomo, 2011).

Based on these studies, a number of segregate genera have been proposed for African species of Vernonia. To date, this process is not complete and for the time being we have retained the use of the genus Vernonia, but have added the new genus and species names as synonyms in cases where these are known to us.

Worldwide: c. 1,000 species in warm and tropical regions of the Old World and America

Mozambique: 56 taxa.

The larvae of the following species of insect eat species of this genus:
Basiotha schenckii (Brown-striped hawk)
Vernonia wollastonii

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
acuminatissima S. MooreZ,MS,GI,M
adoensis Sch. Bip. ex Walp. var. kotschyana (Sch. Bip. ex Walp.) G.V. PopeMDescription, Image
adoensis Sch. Bip. ex Walp. var. mossambiquensis (Steetz) G.V. PopeN,Z,T,MS
adoensis Sch. Bip. ex Walp.[Agg]N,Z,T,MS,MDescription, Image
amygdalina DelileN,T,MS,GIDescription, Image
anthelmintica (L.) Willd.N,TDescription, Image
bainesii Oliv. & Hiern subsp. bainesii T,MSDescription, Image
bellinghamii S. MooreNDescription, Image
calvoana (Hook.f.) Hook.f. subsp. meridionalis (Wild) C. Jeffrey[NrEnd]MSDescription, Image
calyculata S. MooreN,Z
centaureoides KlattM
cinerea (L.) Less. var. cinerea N,Z,MS,GI,MDescription, Image
colorata (Willd.) Drake subsp. colorata N,Z,T,MS,GI,MDescription, Image
colorata (Willd.) Drake subsp. oxyura (O. Hoffm.) C. JeffreyN,Z
fastigiata Oliv. & HiernGI,M
filipendula HiernN,TDescription, Image
galamensis (Cass.) Less. subsp. galamensis var. australis M.G. GilbertN,Z,T,MS
galpinii KlattMS,MDescription, Image
glaberrima Welw. ex O.Hoffm.N,Z,MSDescription, Image
glabra (Steetz) Vatke var. glabra N,Z,T,MSDescription, Image
glabra (Steetz) Vatke var. laxa (Steetz) BrenanZ,T,MS,GI,MDescription, Image
hirsuta (DC.) Sch. Bip. ex Walp.MS,M
holstii O. Hoffm.MSDescription, Image
jelfiae S. Moore var. albida G.V. PopeNDescription, Image
jelfiae S. Moore var. jelfiae NDescription, Image
karaguensis Oliv. & HiernN,Z,T,MSDescription, Image
kirkii Oliv. & HiernZ,T,MSDescription, Image
longipedunculata De Wild. var. longipedunculata N
lundiensis (Hutch.) Wild & G.V. PopeMS,GI
meiostephana C. JeffreyMSDescription, Image
melleri Oliv. & Hiern var. melleri N,Z,T,MS,GIDescription, Image
melleri Oliv. & Hiern var. superba (O. Hoffm.) C. JeffreyN
muelleri Wild subsp. muelleri [NrEnd]MSDescription, Image
musofensis S. Moore var. miamensis (S. Moore) G.V. PopeN,MS
myriantha Hook. f.N,Z,MS,MDescription, Image
natalensis Sch. Bip. ex Walp.Z,MS,GI,MDescription, Image
nepetifolia Wild[NrEnd]MSDescription
nestor S. MooreN,TDescription, Image
oligocephala (DC.) Sch. Bip. ex Walp.GI,MDescription, Image
petersii Oliv. & Hiern ex Oliv.N,Z,T,MS,GIDescription, Image
poskeana Vatke & Hildebr. subsp. poskeana N,GIDescription, Image
pteropoda Oliv. & HiernZ,MS
purpurea Sch. Bip. ex Walp.N,Z,TDescription, Image
rhodanthoidea Muschl.N,Z,T,MS,GI,MDescription, Image
schlechteri O. Hoffm.MS
steetziana Oliv. & HiernN,Z,T,M
stenocephala Oliv.N,T,MSDescription, Image
sutherlandii Harv.M
sylvicola PopeDescription, Image
thomsoniana Oliv. & Hiern ex Oliv.N,Z,T,MS
tigna KlattM
tolypophora Mattf.N
ugandensis S. MooreN,Z
wollastonii S.MooreZ,MSDescription, Image
zanzibarensis Less.N
zanzibarensis Less.N

Other sources of information about Vernonia:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Vernonia
Flora of Caprivi: Vernonia
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Vernonia
Flora of Malawi: Vernonia
Flora of Zambia: Vernonia
Flora of Zimbabwe: Vernonia

External websites:

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

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave 2007-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Mozambique: Genus page: Vernonia.
https://www.mozambiqueflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1464, retrieved 19 March 2024

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