Plantaginaceae
Nanorrhinum

Nanorrhinum ramosissimum (Wall.) Betsche

First published in Courier Forschungsinst. Senckenberg 71: 132 (1984)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is NE. Tropical Africa to NE. Kenya, Arabian Peninsula, Iran to Myanmar. It is a perennial or subshrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

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

Ecology
Moist cliff crevices in dry country; 1000–1700 m
Conservation
Known only from a few collections in the Flora area, but widespread elsewhere. Here assessed as of Least Concern (LC)
Type
Lectotype: India, Uttar Pradesh, “near Mirzapur on Ganges R.”, Wallich 3911c (K!  BM!, isolecto., selected by Sutton, 1988)
Morphology General Habit
Much-branched perennial up to 60 cm long with wiry prostrate or decumbent branches, hanging or appressed against vertical cliffs, glabrous to sparsely pubescent
Morphology Leaves
Basal leaves ovate to oblong-ovate to elliptic, 5–7 mm long, 2–4 mm wide, rounded to cuneate at base, obtuse, usually entire; upper leaves ovate, 4–10 mm long, 2–5 mm wide, usually hastate and truncate or cordate at the base, acute to obtuse, entire, pubescent Leaves heteromorphic usually decreasing in size along the stems, well spaced, petiolate; petioles 1–6 mm long, patent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers axillary; pedicels filiform, much longer than most of the leaves
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx lobes lanceolate, 3–5 mm long with narrow scarious margins, acuminate, glabrous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla pale yellow, violet on the inside of the upper lip and near the base of the lower lip, ± 3.5 mm long including the spur, spur forming an obtuse angle with corolla tube, slender, longer than the corolla tube
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Filaments
Abaxial filaments pubescent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule globose to subglobose, 2.5–5 mm, slightly shorter than the calyx
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds numerous, oblong-ovoid, tuberculate
Figures
Fig 6, p 23
Distribution
Flora districts: K1 Range: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, widespread from Myanmar westwards through India, Pakistan, Iran and Arabia to NE Africa
[FTEA]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Perennial herb or subshrub, glabrous, sparsely pubescent or tomentose all over with glandular or eglandular hairs up to 1.5 mm long
Morphology Stem
Stems up to 60(–90) cm long, prostrate, scandent or ascending to erect
Morphology Leaves
Basal leaves ovate to elliptic, (3–)6–20(–25) x 4–12(–25) mm, obtuse or truncate at the apex, coarsely serrate or entire, rounded at the base, petiole 4–12 mm long, not twining; upper leaves ovate, deltate or lanceolate, (3–)7–25 x (1.5–)3–15 mm, acute or subacute at the apex, entire, lobed, or rarely with few teeth near the base, hastate, sagittate or rounded to cordate at the base, petiole (2–)4–14 mm long, not or slightly twining
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel
Pedicels 7–21(–26) mm long, straight, except for curved tip
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx-lobes 3–5 x 0.4–1.4 mm, linear-subulate to lanceolate, acuminate, with margins narrowly to somewhat broadly scarious below, glabrous, glandular- or eglandular-pubescent or villous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla 3.5–11 mm long, yellow, glandular- or eglandular-pubescent outside; tube 1.5–3 mm broad at the mouth; palate glabrous or sparsely pubescent; spur 1.2–6.5 mm long, straight, patent or forming obtuse angle with tube, shorter than or almost as long as rest of corolla
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Filaments
Abaxial filaments pubescent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 2.5–5 mm long, oblong-ovoid to subglobose, glabrous or sparsely glandular-puberulent at the tip; cells equal, many-seeded, dehiscent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 0.3–0.6 mm long, oblong-ovoid to oblong-ellipsoid, practically always tuberculate, blackish- to reddish-brown; tubercles columnar, subacute or obtuse and papillate, or shortly acute and entire; papillae mostly confined to tubercle-tips, patent, slender, straight or recurved.
Distribution
N2, 3; Ethiopia, north-eastern Kenya, Sudan, Arabian peninsula; South-Central Asia.
Ecology
Altitude range 1200–1900 m.
Note
Plants from Somalia with small, entire leaves, glabrous palate, and seeds with short papillate tubercles have been described as Kickxia somalensis. Further collections from the type locality displayed a wide variation in indumentum, leaf shape and seed ornamentation. The leaf shape of the species is highly variable and to a large extent environmentally conditioned.
[FSOM]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Uses

Use
None recorded on specimens from our area
[FTEA]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0