Pycnostachys ciliata Bramley

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Habit
Open wooded grassland drainage system
Nsama, Nsama District
May 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

Inflorescence
Open wooded grassland drainage system
Nsama, Nsama District
May 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

Flower
Open wooded grassland drainage system
Nsama, Nsama District
May 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

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Synonyms:	Coleus ciliatus (Bramley) A.J.Paton
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:
Description:	Annual herb, 30-150 cm tall. Stems erect, quadrangular, pubescent with short, downward pointing eglandular hairs and red sessile glands, these more plentiful on younger growth. Leaves opposite, sessile; blades narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate to lanceolate, 65 - 155 x 8-45 mm, serrate, apex acuminate, base gradually narrowing (attenuate) to the stem, chartaceous, with yellow and red sessile glands and pubescent with short, stiff eglandular hairs. Inflorescence dense, when in flower forming a narrowly conical shape, becoming more cylindrical in fruit, 40-140 x 18-30 mm, usually with a sterile, bracteate extension with elongated axis up to 20 mm long at the tip; flowers sessile in single flowered cymes; bracts subtending entire inflorescence narrowly ovate, 15 - 35 mm long, apex acuminate, enclosing buds then becoming deflexed in flower, pubescent and ciliate with short eglandular hairs. Flowering calyx with tube c. 1 mm long, outer surface with eglandular hairs and scattered yellow and red sessile glands; lobes 5, subulate, c. 1.5-3 mm long, with longer eglandular hairs. Fruiting calyx with tube 3-7 mm long, somewhat ventrally gibbous, lobes more or less patent, becoming thicker and more rigid, variable in length, 3-7 mm. Corolla pale blue, 11 - 14(- 18) mm; tube with short eglandular hairs, very narrow and parallel sided for 5-6 mm, then curving sharply downwards and broadening for 4-6 mm before opening into two lips; posterior lip shorter than anterior, 2-3 mm long, divided into 4 lobes, with eglandular hairs and red sessile glands; anterior lip 5 - 7(9) mm long, 3-4 mm deep, partially enclosing stamens, with eglandular hairs and red sessile glands on the front of lip. Nutlets black or dark-brown, broadly elliptic and slightly flattened, c. 1.5 mm long, darkly gland dotted, mucilaginous when wet.
Type location:	Tanzania
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	ciliata: with small slender hairs or hair-like structures, a reference to the densely hairy floral bracts subtending each flower..
Habitat:
Altitude range: (metres)
Flowering time:	Mar - May
Worldwide distribution:	Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia
FZ divisions:	N
Growth form(s):	Annual.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Literature:	Paton, A.J. et al. (2013). Lamiaceae Flora Zambesiaca 8(8) Pages 323 - 324. Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 71. As Pycnostachys speciosa

Other sources of information about Pycnostachys ciliata:

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Flora of Zambia: Pycnostachys ciliata

External websites:

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