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The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system, WAHerb, and DBCA’s flora taxonomic names application, WACensus, have been set to read-only mode since 1 October 2025. Recent taxonomic changes are not currently being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or the census. Due to the rapidly approaching holiday season and associated agency and facility soft closures, along with the substantial work involved in data mapping, cleaning, and verification, the migration to the new collection management software is not expected to occur before 1 March 2026, when a further update will be provided. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

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Bergia L.

Reference
Mant.Pl.Altera 152, 241 (1771)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Elatinaceae.

Habit and leaf form. (Sub-) shrubs, or herbs. Annual, or perennial. Helophytic (favouring areas that are periodically inundated). Leaves opposite; decussate; petiolate to subsessile; simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades entire; pinnately veined; attenuate at the base. Leaves with stipules. Stipules interpetiolar; herbaceous or membranous with a membranous margin, often toothed or laciniate, often connate at the base and sometimes adnate basally to the petioles, acuminate; persistent. Leaf blade margins serrate (usually serrulate). Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent, or developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary (or paired), or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; when solitary, axillary; when aggregated, in fascicles (in dense globular clusters). The terminal inflorescence unit cymose. Inflorescences axillary. Flowers bracteate. Bracts persistent. Flowers bracteolate. Bracteoles persistent. Flowers small; regular; 3–5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic, or pentacyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 6–10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx 3–5; 1 -whorled; more or less polysepalous; imbricate; regular; herbaceous with a membranous laciniate margin, sometimes keeled or winged; persistent. Corolla 3–5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; imbricate; regular; usually white, or pink; persistent. Androecium 3–5, or 6–10. Androecial members free of the perianth; all equal; free of one another; 2 -whorled, or 1 -whorled (the inner whorl sometimes aborted). Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 3–5, or 6–10; isomerous with the perianth, or diplostemonous; when 1-whorled oppositisepalous. Anthers ellipsoid; dorsifixed; versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 3–5 carpelled. The pistil 3–5 celled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 3–5 locular. The ‘odd’ carpel (when G3) anterior. Gynoecium stylate (usually), or non-stylate (the stigmas of B. pedicellaris more or less sessile). Styles 3–5; free; apical; persistent. Stigmas 3–5; capitate. Placentation axile. Ovules 15–50 per locule (i.e. ‘many’); horizontal to ascending; with lateral or superior raphe; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules septicidal. Seeds shortly cylindric; non-endospermic. Cotyledons 2 (relatively short). Embryo straight to curved. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Not endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Australian Capital Territory. Northern Botanical Province and Eremaean Botanical Province.