Geophila repens (L.) I.M.Johnst.

Johnston, I.M. (1949) Sargentia 8: 281.

Corrida Yerba de Guava

Creeping herb with stems 20-30 cm. long, with densely appressed hairs, rooting at the nodes; leafy and flowering shoots reaching a height of 3-7.5 cm. above ground-level.

Leaf blades 12-15 x 10-18 mm, petioles 10-20 mm long, pubescent. Leaf blades clothed with hairs on the underside at least towards the base, main veins all originate from the leaf base. Stipules emarginate at the apex and 1.5-2 mm long.

Flowers borne in dense clusters in the axils of leaves. Each flower ca. 4 mm diam. subtended by a filiform bract 1-1.25 mm long. Calyx tube ca. 1 mm long, lobes ca. 2 mm long, margins ciliate. Corolla tube ca. 1.5 mm long, lobes ca. 1.5 mm long. Inner surface of the corolla tube densely clothed in hairs on the upper half. Anthers ca. 0.25 mm long, filaments ca. 0.25 mm long. Ovary ca. 1.5 mm long. Style ca. 0.5 mm long, papillate. Ovules one per locule.

Berries globose, bright red or orange, glossy, glabrous, 0.5-1.2 cm. in diameter, crowned by the persistent calyx lobes. Pyrenes greyish or straw-coloured, 3.5-4.1 x 3-3.5 mm. wide, semi-ovoid, dorsal side convex, rugose, ventral side flat, rugose, with a narrow impressed smooth annular area where the 2 sides join. Seeds with chestnut-coloured testa easily removable to show the white endosperm, 3 x 2.8 x 1 mm., lenticular, smooth.

Features not available.

Occurs in CYP, NEQ and CEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 450 m. Grows in moist shady conditions in rainforest and vineforest. Also from the Old and New World tropics.