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''Jeffreycia'' 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
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 ...
n flowering plants in the family
Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...
. They are in the tribe
Vernonieae Vernonieae is a tribe of about 1300 species of plants in the aster family. They are mostly found in the tropics and warmer temperate areas, both in the Americas and the Old World. They are mostly herbaceous plants or shrubs, although there is a ...
. It is native to Tropical eastern Africa and also Sri Lanka. It is found in the countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Somalia and Tanzania.


Description

''Jeffreycia'' are small to moderate-sized, branching, often scrambling shrubs. They have woody stems, with narrow and solid
pith Pith, or medulla, is a tissue in the stems of vascular plants. Pith is composed of soft, spongy parenchyma cells, which in some cases can store starch. In eudicotyledons, pith is located in the center of the stem. In monocotyledons, it ex ...
. The leaves are arranged alternate with petioles (leaf stalks) distinct and short to elongated. The leaf blades are ovate to elliptic or panduriform (fiddle-shaped) usually with basal auricles (ear-shaped lobe). They are to about long and about wide. They have crenated (rounded teeth) or serrated margins and the apices (leaf-tips) are acute to scarcely acuminate (tapering gradually to a point) and rarely obtuse. The upper surface of the leaf is sparsely pilosulous (covered with soft, weak, thin and clearly separated hairs) or hispidulous (bearing long, erect, rigid hairs or bristles). The lower surface of the leaf, is sparsely pilosulous to tomentellous (dense covering of short, matted hairs), with many glandular dots. The leaf has 4–6 secondary veins on each side, with unusual somewhat meandering course, spreading at 45–60° angles. The flowers are terminal (at ends of branches), with branches alternate and usually ascending at 30° angles or less, usually with minute bracteoles (small
bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...
), sometimes primary bracteoles are larger and foliiform (leaf shaped). The flower heads are crowded at the ends of longer branches, with distinct short peduncles (flower stalks). The
involucral bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...
s (leaves around the flower) are persistent, subimbricate (slightly overlapping) in about series of 4–5 or with differentiated long, linear-lanceolate basal bracts, except at the base. They are smooth outside and without median keel. The receptacle is scarcely convex, epaleate (lacking plates), epilose (without hairs), with proturberant (bulging) scars. The flowerhead has 5–40 florets. The corollas are purplish, 5–11 mm long, with some glandular dots on the outside. They have few or no hairs below tips and a slender basal tube which is half as long as the corolla. The throat (of the flower) is half as long as the limb and about as long as the lobes. The lobes are strictly narrowly lanceolate (shaped like a
lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...
), with sides straight from base to apex and not recurving. They sometimes have stiff hairs at tip. The
anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...
thecae In biology, a theca (: thecae) is a sheath or a covering. Botany In botany, the theca is related to plant's flower anatomy. The theca of an angiosperm consists of a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a common are ...
is without glands and calcarate at the base (spurred), with narrow tails. The endothecial (the lining of the cavity of an anther) cells are without obvious nodes. The apical appendages are narrowly lanceolate. The
style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...
has a basal node and sweeping hairs with blunt tips, restricted to branches, often lacking for some distance above bases of branches. The
achenes An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not open ...
(one-seeded indehiscent fruit) are 2–41 mm long, with 4 or 5 poorly differentiated angles, with or without glands or setulae, with scattered idioblasts (cells) on the surface set sometimes in vertical series. The inner cells of achene wall are distinct firm cell walls, containing small sub-quadrate raphids (a seam or ridge on the seeds). carpopodium stopper-shaped or somewhat turbinate and asymmetrical, with many series of sub-quadrate, thick-walled cells. The pappus (tuft of hairs) is white, with inner series capillary (slender), often deciduous, 4.5–7.0 mm long and gradually narrowed to tips. They are somewhat flattened on outer surface and the outer series consists of short persistent scales, minute to 0.5 mm long.


Taxonomy

The genus name of ''Jeffreycia'' is in honour of Charles Jeffrey (b. 1934), an English botanist at Kew Gardens with a focus on Chinese flora and also specialist in Asteraceae and
Cucurbitaceae The Cucurbitaceae (), also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family (biology), family consisting of about 965 species in 101 genera.
. He was the author of the study of the ''Vernonieae'' of East Tropical Africa. It was first described and published in
PhytoKeys ''PhytoKeys'' is a peer-reviewed, open-access online and print botanical journal. Its stated goal is "to support free exchange of ideas and information in systematic botany". Printed issues of the journal are available in the libraries of the Unit ...
Vol.39 on page 59 in 2014.


Known species

According to Kew; The African Plant Database accepts 4 species; ''Jeffreycia amaniensis'' , ''Jeffreycia hildebrandtii'' , ''Jeffreycia usambarensis'' and ''Jeffreycia zanzibarensis'' .


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21217748 Asteraceae genera Vernonieae Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of Sri Lanka Plants described in 2014