Berkheya

Berkheya
Berkheya sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Vernonioideae
Tribe: Arctotideae
Subtribe: Gorteriinae
Genus: Berkheya
Ehrh.
Synonyms[1]
  • Agriphyllum Juss.
  • Apuleja Gaertn.
  • Arelina Neck.
  • Crocodilodes Adans.
  • Evopis Cass.
  • Rohria Vahl
  • Stephanocoma Less.
  • Stobaea Thunb.

Berkheya is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is distributed in tropical Africa, especially in southern regions.[2] Of about 75 species, 71 can be found in South Africa.[3]

Most species have yellow ray florets, a few have white, and B. purpurea has light purple or mauve florets.[2]

Berkheya purpurea is cultivated as an ornamental plant.[2] Some Berkheya are known as weeds.[4]

Berkheya coddii is a well-known hyperaccumulator. Concentration of Ni as the leaves of this species may reach 7.6% DW Ni.

The genus was named in honor of the Dutch scientist and artist Johannes le Francq van Berkhey.[5]

Berkheya are associated with a variety of weevils in the genus Larinus. The tephritid fruit fly Urophora agromyzella is also found on the plants.[4]

  1. ^ "Berkheya". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Hind, N. (2006). 568. Berkheya purpurea. Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Curtis's Botanical Magazine 23(4), 289-96.
  3. ^ Funk, V. A. and R. Chan. (2008). Phylogeny of the spiny African daisies (Compositae, tribe Arctotideae, subtribe Gorteriinae) based on trnL-F, ndhF, and ITS sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48(1), 47-60.
  4. ^ a b Clark, M. M. A comparison between the flower-head insect communities of South African Berkheya and European Cynareae. In: Proceedings of the VIII International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. (pp. 165-170). Istituto Sperimentale per la Vegetale, Ministero dell'Agricoltura e delle Foreste. 1990.
  5. ^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2017). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. Routledge.