Centella

Genus: Centella

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 II > Order: Apiales > Family: Araliaceae

About 50 species, native mainly to southern Africa but with some species occurring as far north as Malawi and one species, Centella asiatica, having a cosmopolitan distribution. Centella used to be in the family Apiaceae but has been transferred to the Araliaceae on the basis of genetic evidence (Plunkett, Soltis & Soltis 1997).

Centella glabrata

Persiegras, Sweetkruie [Afrikaans]; isiwisa [Zulu]

See KwaZulu-Natal Wildflowers by Elsa Pooley p. 540.

Centella triloba

See Hottentots Holland to Hermanus wild flowers by Lee Burman & Anne Bean p. 144.

Centella virgata

See Southern Overberg wild flowers by Penny Mustart et al. p. 184

Species naturalised in southern Africa

List from Plants of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI).

Centella asiatica (Marsh Pennywort)

Varkoortjies, Waternavel [Afrikaans]; bolila-ba-linku [South Sotho]; icudwane [Zulu]

See KwaZulu-Natal Wildflowers by Elsa Pooley p. 540.

Publications

Adamson, R.S. 1951. A revision of the sub-genus Solandra of Centella. Journal of South African Botany 17: 1-41.
Burtt, B.L. 1991. Umbelliferae of southern Africa: an introduction and annotated checklist. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 48: 133-282.
Plunkett, G.M., Soltis, D.E. & Soltis, P.S. 1997. Clarification of the relationship between Apiaceae and Araliaceae based on MATK and RBCL sequence data. American Journal of Botany 84: 565-580.
Schubert, M.T.R. & van Wyk, B.-E. 1997. A revision of Centella series Capenses (Apiaceae). Nordic Journal of Botany 17,3: 301-314.