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Family:
Pedaliaceae (sesame family) Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Asterids > Euasterid I > Order: Lamiales
There are about 13 genera and 70 species worldwide (mainly
tropics and subtropics) of which eight genera and 32 species are native to
southern Africa, mainly in semi-arid regions. An additional two species are
cultivated in the region.
Distinguishing characteristics
- Herbs or shrubs with mucilaginous hairs.
- Flowers are large and symmetric in only one axis (monosymmetric or
zygomorphic).
- Ovary is superior and has axile placentation.
- Fruits in many species have protuberances such as hooks and prickles.
Information from
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.
Genera native to southern Africa
This list from Smithies (2000) excludes the naturalised
genera Ibicella
and Proboscidea, which are placed in the
Martyniaceae (following Angiosperm
Phylogeny Website).
Ceratotheca
There are five species of which four are native to southern
Africa. |
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Dicerocaryum
Three species (tropical and subtropical Africa), all of which occur in southern Africa. |
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Harpagophytum
Two species, endemic to southern Africa. The prickliness of the fruits is
probably an adaptation for dispersal through trampling by animals such as
ostriches (Midgley and Illing 2009). |
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Holubia
One species: Holubia saccata, endemic to southern
Africa. See
Flora of Zimbabwe. |
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Pterodiscus
All 18 species are native to Africa and five of them
occur in southern Africa. |
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Rogeria
Of the six species, five are found in Africa and one in
Brazil. Three of them occur in southern Africa. |
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Sesamothamnus
About five species, all African, of which three occur in
southern Africa. |
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Sesamum (sesame genus)
About 15 species, native to Africa through to Europe through to India and
Sri Lanka. There are 11 species native to southern Africa. |
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Other genera, cultivated in southern Africa
From Glen (2002). As each of these genera has only one
representative cultivated in southern Africa, the species name is provided.
Uncarina sakalava
Native to Madagascar. Midgley and Illing (2009) speculate that the large,
prickly fruits of some Uncarina species were adapted for being
dispersed through trampling by the now extinct Elephant bird Aepyornis.
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Trapella sinensis (Hishi-modoki)
Native to China, Korea and Japan.
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Publications
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Glen, H.F. 2002. Cultivated Plants of
Southern Africa. Jacana, Johannesburg.
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Midgley, J.J. and Illing, N. 2009. Were Malagasy Uncarina
fruits dispersed by the extinct elephant bird? South African Journal
of Science 105: 467-469.
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Smithies, S.J. 2000. Pedaliaceae. In: Seed Plants of
Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 436-440.
National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
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