Gnidia

Gnidia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. It is distributed in Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, and Sri Lanka; more than half of all the species are endemic to South Africa.[1] Gnidia was named for Knidos, an Ancient Greek city located in modern-day Turkey.[2]

Gnidia
Gnidia tomentosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Subfamily: Thymelaeoideae
Genus: Gnidia
L.
Species

140-160, see text

These are perennial herbs and shrubs, sometimes with rhizomes. Most species have alternately arranged leaves, and a few have opposite leaves. The leaves are undivided and unlobed. The inflorescence is a head of a few to many flowers. The calyx is cylindrical and the colored lobes may alternate with the petals; some species lack petals.[2] Many species are similar in appearance and difficult to tell apart.[3]

Molecular analyses have provided evidence that the genus is polyphyletic, made up of four different lineages. They are related to the four genera Struthiola, Drapetes, Lasiosiphon, and Pimelea.[4]

There are 140 to 160 species classified in the genus.[1][2][5]

Species include:

Gnidia polystachya
Gnidia glauca
  • Gnidia anthylloides
  • Gnidia burchellii
  • Gnidia caffra
  • Gnidia capitata
  • Gnidia carinata
  • Gnidia chapmanii
  • Gnidia chrysantha
  • Gnidia chrysophylla
  • Gnidia ericoides
  • Gnidia fastigiata
  • Gnidia humilis
  • Gnidia insignis
  • Gnidia involucrata
  • Gnidia kraussiana
  • Gnidia latifolia
  • Gnidia microcephala
  • Gnidia mollis
  • Gnidia nana
  • Gnidia ornata
  • Gnidia pedunculata
  • Gnidia polycephala
  • Gnidia razakamalalana[1]
  • Gnidia socotrana
  • Gnidia sonderiana
  • Gnidia spicata
  • Gnidia squarrosa
  • Gnidia usafuae
  • Gnidia variabilis
  • Gnidia virescens
  • Gnidia wickstroemiana

References
  1. Rogers, Z. S. (2006). A new species of Malagasy Gnidia and the lectotypification of Octolepis decalepis (Thymelaeaceae). Adansonia, sér. 3(28), 155-60.
  2. Hyde, M. A., et al. Gnidia. Flora of Zimbabwe. 2013.
  3. Beaumont, A. J., et al. (2001). Patterns of diversity among involucral bracts, inflorescences and flowers in Gnidia (Thymelaeaceae). Systematics and Geography of Plants 71(2), 419-31.
  4. Beaumont, A. J., et al. (2009). Gnidia (Thymelaeaceae) is not monophyletic: taxonomic implications for Thymelaeoideae and a partial new generic taxonomy for Gnidia. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 160(4), 402-17. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00988.x
  5. Bhandurge, P., et al. (2013). The Gnidia genus: A review. Asian Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences 3(19), 1-31.


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