| Wachendorfia | |
|---|---|
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| Wachendorfia thyrsiflora | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Commelinales |
| Family: | Haemodoraceae |
| Subfamily: | Haemodoroideae |
| Genus: | Wachendorfia Burm., 1757, not Loefl. 1758 (Commelinaceae) |
| species | |
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Wachendorfia is a genus of perennial herbaceous plants that is assigned to the bloodroot family. The plants have a perennial rootstock with red sap. From the rootstock emerge lance- or line-shaped, sometime sickle-shaped, pleated, simple leaves set in a fan, that are flattened to create a left and right surface rather than an upper and lower surface. The leaves die when the seeds are shed in three of the species, and are perennial in one species.
The rootstock also produces flowering stems annually that carry a panicle of zygomorphic, yellow or yellowish flowers in two distinct forms, one with the style and one stamen bent to the right and two stamens to the left, and the other vice versa. The fruit opens with three valves and each contains a single, hairy seed. All species only occur in the fynbos biome in the Cape Provinces of South Africa.[1]
- ^ a b Helme, N.A.; Linder, H.P. (1992). "Morphology, evolution and taxonomy of Wachendorfia (Haemodoraceae)" (PDF). Bothalia. 22 (1): 59–75. doi:10.4102/abc.v22i1.826.