Nidorella attenuata (DC.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt

Compositae, C. D. Adams. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

Morphology General Habit

An erect glabrous annual herb 2-6 ft. high

Morphology Leaves

Lower leaves stalked; upper leaves clasping the stem but hardly auricled

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Flower-heads small and numerous with pale yellow florets

Ecology

A weedy plant of open ground.

Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005

Morphology General Habit

Annual or biennial herb (perennial fide Drummond & Hemsley), erect, 0.2–3 m tall; stems branched, slightly woody at base, terete, ribbed, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves sessile or with a pseudopetiole, membranous, narrowly ovate or narrowly lanceolate, 4–22 cm long, 1–6 cm wide, attenuate at the base but widening at the very base to clasp the stem and sometimes subauriculate, the margins serrulate to serrate with callose teeth or subentire (not in ours), attenuate at the apex, glabrous to sparsely puberulous on both surfaces.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum

Capitula 2–5 mm long, several together in lax half-globose cymes, several to very many cymes combined in large terminal leafy compound panicles or corymbs to 25 cm across, the axes puberulous to glabrous; stalks of individual capitula 2–7 mm long; phyllaries 3–4-seriate, 28–30, pale green, the innermost longest, lanceolate, 1.5–4 mm long, the margins hyaline and serrulate, acuminate to attenuate, glabrous; receptacle flat or toroid, hardly toothed.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets

Marginal florets white, cream or yellow, many, female, tube narrowly cylindric, 0.9–1 mm long, apex minutely toothed, glabrous, style 2–2.5 mm long; central florets white, cream or yellow, fewer than marginal ones, ± 15, tube 1.3–1.7 mm long, lobes 0.5–0.7 mm long, puberulous, anthers 0.8–0.9 mm long; style ± 3 mm long with flattened, lanceolate branches.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes of marginal florets narrowly obovate, compressed, 0.7–1 mm long, slightly 2-ribbed, minutely tuberculate; achenes of central florets narrower than those of marginal florets, ± 0.8 mm long, not tuberculate; pappus of many setae, 1.5–3 mm long, silvery-grey or tawny.

Habitat

Riverine forest or thicket, forest margins, old cultivations; 300–1700 m

Distribution

from Sierra Leone to Congo (Kinshasa), Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Madagascar K1 K4 T2 T3 T6 T7 U3 U4