Bacopa crenata (P.Beauv.) Hepper

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/136663398/136663421

Conservation

LC - least concern

Scrophulariaceae, F. N. Hepper. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

Morphology General Habit

Creeping and ascending herb with soft spongy stems a few inches to 3 ft. long, rooting at the lower nodes

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers white

Ecology

In swamps and ditches.

Scrophulariaceae, D. Philcox. Flora Zambesiaca 8:2. 1990

Morphology General Habit

Decumbent or ascending, glandular-punctate herb up to 30 cm. tall, subglabrous; sterns simple or branched.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves 9–33.5(50) x 3–12(18) mm., lanceolate to ovate, obtuse or subacute, cuneate at base into short, broad petiole or subsessile, crenulate to crenate-serrate, glandular-punctate, markedly so beneath.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers solitary-axillary, white to occasionally pale violet, bibracteate.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel

Pedicels 5–9 mm. long, winged just below calyx.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts

Bracts 1–1.5 mm. long, narrowly linear.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx with lateral lobes ovate-lanceolate, narrow, keeled, ciliate; posterior lobe 6–7 mm. long, 4–4.5 mm. wide, up to 9 mm. long, 6 mm. wide in fruit; anterior similar to but somewhat narrower than posterior; all lobes strongly reticulate-nerved.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Capsule 4 x 2.5 mm., ellipsoid, foveolate, somewhat densely minutely glandular.

Scrophulariaceae, S.A. Ghazanfar, F.N. Hepper & D. Philcox. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2008

Type

Type: Nigeria, without locality, P. Beauvois s.n. (G!, holo.)

Morphology General Habit

Ascending herb, sometimes a simple annual (see note), up to 40 cm high.

Morphology Stem

Stems fleshy, trailing, rooting at nodes, glabrous or nearly so

Morphology Leaves

Leaves lanceolate to ovate, 1.5–4(–8) cm long, (0.2–)0.6–1.2(–2.3) cm wide, narrowed at the base into a short petiole or sessile or base amplexicaul, obtuse to acute at apex, margins crenateserrate, glandular-punctate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers solitary in most leaf axils; pedicels 1–3(–5) mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts

Bracts 2, 1.5 mm long, setaceous

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx glabrous, the outer lobes broadly ovate, posterior lobe largest, 8–9 mm long and 4–5 mm wide, in fruit reticulate-veined; other lobes successively smaller and narrower, lateral lobes somewhat keeled

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla pure white with yellow mark in the throat, slightly longer than the calyx; upper lip emarginate, lower lip equally 3-lobed.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style

Style and ovary glabrous

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Capsule 3–4 mm, ovoid, glandular

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds ellipsoid.

Ecology

Grassy swamps and salt marshes; 0–1600 m

Conservation

Least Concern (LC); widespread

Note

Typically this species has a stout ascending stem and rooting habit, but in brackishmarshy habitats it tends to be a small annual with a simple erect stem; these are ecotypes and cannot be considered as separate taxa.

Distribution

Flora districts: K7 T3 T5 T6 T8 Z P Range: Senegal eastwards to the Sudan and southwards to Mozambique and Angola, Madagascar