APOCYNACEAE  

Perennial, twining herbs. Leaves petiolate, cordate. Flowers in pedunculate, umbel-like cymes, lateral at nodes. Sepals with scales within base. Corolla deeply 5-lobed. Corona arising from base of staminal column, of 5-lobes; lobes in side view obconic, trumpet- or slipper-shaped, with infolded margins forming a channel or narrow, funnel-shaped cavity within, with truncate or rounded upper margin and with an inward-directed horn. Anthers 2-locular, with inflexed, ovate, membranous appendage. Pollinia terete, linear, pendulous; caudicles shorter than pollinia. Follicles lanceolate, +/- beaked and echinate. Seeds brown, ovate, planoconvex, narrowly winged, with scattered, raised markings. x = 9 (1 report).

Perennial, erect herbs with thickened rootstock. Leaves opposite, petiolate or subsessile, simple, sometimes margin undulate. Flowers in lateral umbels. Sepals 5, separate almost to base, sometimes nearly as long as corolla, with scales within sinuses. Corolla with shortly campanulate tube and with lobes spreading or recurved at tips; greenish yellow. Corona of 5 lobes; lobes as broad as long, or obcordate, adnate to basal portion of corolla tube, free above and slightly projecting beyond mouth of corolla tube, free from staminal column. Anthers 2-locular, with ovate, membranous, apical appendages. Pollinia pendulous, with caudicles nearly as long as pollinia. Style exserted beyond anther appendages or shorter and depressed at apex. Follicles coriaceous, with few scattered protuberances. Seeds elliptic, concave-convex, with prominent ridges.

Glabrous, succulent perennials. Stems arising from rhizomatous rootstocks, obtusely 4-angular, with tubercle-like, deltoid or broken, acute, very prominent, widely spreading teeth along angles; teeth often with stipular denticles towards apex. Flowers in few-flowered inflorescences, appearing together or in quick succession, shortly pedicellate, arising in small fascicles along sides of stems, usually towards apex. Corolla campanulate, under 25 mm in diameter, thick, rigidly fleshy, with a thickened glabrous annulus surrounding mouth of tube. Corona entirely enclosed in tube, deeply urceolate, inner lobes closely incumbent upon anthers, not erectly produced. Anthers horizontal above style head, margins often not shrinking back and frequently covering pollinia. Pollinia +/- D-shaped, pellucid margin twisting onto dorsal surface. Follicles erect, terete-fusiform, glabrous, smooth. x = 11 ( polyploidy).

Perennial herbs with prostrate stems, or +/- virgate subshrubs. Leaves subsessile or shortly petiolate, rarely undeveloped. Flowers in pedunculate or subsessile clusters or umbels, lateral at nodes. Sepals lanceolate with scales within base, hairy. Corolla: tube globose, 5-winged or -angled at base, then cylindric, hairy outside; lobes shorter than tube, linear, with reflexed margins, sometimes with minute, pocket-like thickenings at sinuses between them. Corona arising at or near base of staminal column and almost as long as it, of 5 lobes; lobes halfmoon-shaped or transversely oblong, reflexed outwards or V-shaped. Anthers 2-locular, with a subulate or lanceolate, membranous appendage. Pollinia erect, oblong, with pellucid, apical patch, with short caudicles. Follicles large, fusiform, acuminate, smooth. Seeds brown, ovate with a narrow, marginal wing, convex on one face, flat on other; with tuft of hairs. x = 11 (1 report).

Dwarf, glabrous, succulent perennials forming compact to diffuse clumps, branching from base, often rhizomatous. Stems erect to prostrate, obtusely 4-angled, prominently acutely toothed along angles; teeth conical or compressed-deltoid, spreading, usually widely so, each tipped with a soft, acute to acuminate leaf rudiment, usually subtended by a pair of stipular denticles shortly below apex. Inflorescences 1-3(-5) per stem, developed normally from near base of stem, each with 1-40 flowers usually developing in succession. Flowers often humifuse, +/- 10-100 mm in diameter, not or only faintly odorous. Corolla rotate to campanulate, often thickened below bases of lobes to form a prominent annulus; outside smooth, often streaked with purple; inside rugulose to +/- smooth; lobes spreading to reflexed, +/- flat above, often with vibratile clavate cilia on margins. Corona 2-seriate, glabrous, mostly with 10 lobes in 2 alternating series, on a mostly short stipe, generally accessible to relatively large pollinators; outer corona usually of 5 spreading to erect, +/- subquadrate lobes beneath anther wings, protruding above relatively large nectarial cavity with nectarial orifice at its rear and corresponding outer corona lobe spreading from its base; inner lobes adpressed to backs of anthers, often exceeding them and rising up connivent in centre, dorsiventrally flattened to terete, often with fin-like dorsal appendage. Anthers 2-locular, horizontal on top of style head. Pollinia +/- broadly ovate or subcircular, with a +/- straight inner margin, as long as or slightly longer than broad. Follicles erect, terete-fusiform, glabrous, smooth. x = 11 ( polyploidy).