Josephinia Vent.

Scientific Description

Family Pedaliaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Sub- shrubs, or herbs. Mesophytic to xerophytic. Leaves opposite (at least below); unpleasantly aromatic; simple. Leaf blades dissected, or entire; the lowermost ones often deeply 3-lobed; pinnately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins when simple, entire, or dentate. Leaf anatomy. Hydathodes present, or absent. Hairs present (hairs glandular and eglandular). Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

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

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary; axillary; pedicellate; bracteate (the bracts with axillary abortive flowers functioning as nectaries); ebracteolate; very irregular. The floral asymmetry involving the perianth and involving the androecium. Flowers 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous (forming a lobed tube); blunt-lobed. Corolla 5; 1 -whorled; gamopetalous; imbricate; greatly widening upwards, slightly gibbous at the base; unequal but not bilabiate (the lower lobe larger than the other 4); pink, or purple; spurred, or not spurred. Androecium 5. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla tube); markedly unequal; free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes 1 (the posterior member); non-petaloid. Stamens 4; didynamous; reduced in number relative to the adjacent perianth; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members. Anthers connivent (in pairs), or separate from one another; deeply 2-lobed at the base, the cells parallel; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; tetrasporangiate. Pollen shed in aggregates, or shed as single grains. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled, or 4 celled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious to eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular (morphologically), or 4 locular (often, ostensibly, via false septa). Locules secondarily divided by ‘false septa’, or without ‘false septa’. Gynoecium median; stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary; much longer than the ovary at anthesis. Stigmas 1; 2 - lobed; wet type; papillate; Group III type. Placentation axile. Ovules 1 per locule; pendulous, or horizontal, or ascending; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; spinose; indehiscent. Seeds thinly endospermic, or non-endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds with amyloid. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight. 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, and Queensland. Northern Botanical Province and Eremaean Botanical Province.

Additional characters Corolla lobes spreading.