Crossandra

Genus: Crossandra

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Asterids > Euasterid I > Order: Lamiales > Family: Acanthaceae

About 50 species, native to Africa, Arabian Peninsula, India and Madagascar. Four species are found in southern Africa.

Information from Welman 2003 - excludes Zimbabwe and Mozambique)

Crossandra fruticulosa (Shade Crossandra) Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.3 m. See Pooley (1998: 78). Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga; Swaziland.
Crossandra greenstockii (Bushveld Crossandra) Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.3 m. See Pooley (1998: 78); van Wyk & Malan (1997: 188); Onderstall (1984: 182). Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Liimpopo, Gauteng; Swaziland.
Crossandra mucronata Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.4 m. Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > Mpumalanga, Liimpopo.
Crossandra zuluensis (Zulu Crossandra) Perennial dwarf shrub or herb, growing to height of 0.4 m. See Pooley (1998: 78). Distribution in southern Africa: South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Liimpopo; Swaziland.

Onderstall, J. 1984. Transvaal Lowveld and Escarpment including the Kruger National Park. South African Wild Flower Guide 4. Botanical Society of Southern Africa, Kirstenbosch.
Pooley, E. 1998. A Field Guide to Wild Flowers KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region. Natal Flora Publications Trust, Durban.
van Wyk, B. & Malan, S. 1997. Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Highveld. 2nd edition. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
Vollesen, K. 1990. The genus Crossandra (Acanthaceae) in the African continent. Kew Bulletin 45: 503-534.
Voss, W.T. & Edwards, T.J. 1992. The genus Crossandra Salisb. (Acanthaceae) in South Africa, including a new species. South African Journal of Botany 58: 94-99.
Welman, W.G. 2003. Acanthaceae. In Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds), Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14: 92-106. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.