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Electronic Flora of South Australia
Electronic Flora of South Australia
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Electronic Flora of South Australia genus Fact Sheet

Family: Lamiaceae
Lycopus

Citation: L., Sp. Pl. 21 (1753).

Derivation: Greek lykos, wolf; pous, foot; alluding to the shape of the leaves of L. europaeus.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: None

Description:
Perennial herbs with quadrangular branches from an underground rhizome, with a few simple hairs; leaves subpetiolate, opposite, coarsely serrate to serrately lobed.

Inflorescence a loosely arranged thyrse with sessile cymose part-inflorescences with few to many flowers forming dense clusters around the nodes and with elongated internodes between them, with bracts leaf-like and much longer than the part-inflorescences; sepals more or less equally connate, with 5 acute lobes, with simple hairs or papillae and sessile glands outside; corolla slightly zygomorphic, not 2-lipped, with a broad dorsal lobe scarcely 2-lobed, with 2 narrower lateral lobes, with .a broad anterior lobe entire; stamens with anterior pair fertile, inserted at about the middle of the corolla tube; anthers with 2 cells fertile and slightly diverging at the base; ovary deeply 4-lobed, with I basal ovule in each locule, with a gynobasic style and an exserted 2-fid stigma.

Fruit usually with 4 mericarps each oblong-obovoid with outer surface slightly concave and keeled inner surface, with sessile glands with an attachment scar small, ovate and at the base of the inside keel.

Distribution:  About 14 species from the north temperate regions; 1 species native to mainly eastern Australia.

Biology: No text

Author: Not yet available


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