''Gerrardanthus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of flowering plants native to tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, first described by

William Henry Harvey William Henry Harvey, FRS FLS (5 February 1811 – 15 May 1866) was an Irish botanist and phycologist who specialised in algae. Biography Harvey was born at Summerville near Limerick, Ireland, in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. His father ...

(1811–1866), and named in honor of

William Tyrer Gerrard William Tyrer Gerrard (1831 – 9 July 1866) was an English botany, botanical collector in Colony of Natal, Natal and Madagascar in the 1860s. The genus ''Gerrardanthus'' is named in his honor. Gerrard was born in Knowsley, Merseyside, England ...

(died 1866 in

Mahavelona Mahavelona (commonly called Foulpointe), is a town in the district of Toamasina II, in the region of Atsinanana, on the northern part of the east coast of Madagascar. Geography It is situated at the coast of the Indian Ocean south of the mouth o ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

), botanical collector in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

and

in the 1860s. ''Gerrardanthus'' is a perennial climber, with height up to 5 m, rising from a swollen, tuberous base with a thickness of up to 1.5 m. Stems are herbaceous but becoming woody and grey-barked as they age.

Species

* '' Gerrardanthus aethiopicus'' * '' Gerrardanthus grandiflorus'' * '' Gerrardanthus lobatus'' * '' Gerrardanthus macrorhizus'' * '' Gerrardanthus nigericus'' * '' Gerrardanthus paniculatus'' * '' Gerrardanthus parviflorus'' * '' Gerrardanthus portentosus'' * '' Gerrardanthus tomentosus'' * '' Gerrardanthus trimenii'' * '' Gerrardanthus zenkeri''

References

Aluka entry

Taxonomicon entry

ZipcodeZoo entry
* Takhtajan, A., ''Diversity and Classification of Flowering Plants'', Columbia University Press : New York, 1997. {{Taxonbar, from=Q5236322 Cucurbitaceae genera Cucurbitaceae Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker