Subfamily

III. Subfam. Ajugoideae Kostel. (1834).

Subfam. Teucrioideae (Dumort.) Caruel (1884).

Description

Shrubs; stems sharply quadrangular; leaves opposite, sessile or subsessile, elliptic to oblong or linear-lanceolate, entire, often caducous; inflorescence a tight axillary cyme of 1-3-flowers; calyx actinomorphic, not accrescent, 5-lobed; corolla white, zygomorphic, not clearly lipped or 1-lipped and then only anterior lip present, 5-lobed, anterior lobe largest; stamens 4, didynamous, included to slightly exserted, filaments arched, thecae divaricate, confluent at dehiscence; pollen operculate, with supratectal verrucae; ovary shallowly 4-lobed; stigma-lobes equal; disc absent; fruit drupaceous, globose, orange-red, pyrenes 4, 1-seeded, reticulately ridged; endosperm absent.  Three species, Australia.  Previously placed within "Chloanthoideae" (Prostantheroideae tribe Chloantheae), but probably closely related to Teucrium, Teucridium, and Oncinocalyx , with which it shares a distinctive pollen morphology (Abu-Asab and Cantino 1993).

Distribution

Native to:

50 Australia

Synonyms

* Spartothamnus A.Cunn. ex Walp., Repert. Bot. Syst. 6: 694 (1847), nom. illeg.; non Spartothamnus Webb & Berthel. ex C. Presl (1845).

* Basionym/Replaced Synonym

Publication

Spartothamnella Briq. in Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 4 (3a): 161 (1895); Munir, J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 1: 3-25 (1976).

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Image resource

© Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew