Gloriosa sessiliflora Nordal & M.G. Bingham

Selected images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View all images (13)

Lealui; Dec 2003.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Bulozi floodplain, on the side of a mound; 2 km W of Lealui; Dec 1995.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Sprouting tuber;
Nov 2014.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Lusaka, cultivated; Dec 2014.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Lusaka, grown from a tuber from Sioma; Jan 2015.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Mwandi; Dec 2008.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Mwandi, Zambezi floodplain; Nov 2003.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Sioma, Ngonye Falls, on Zambezi River bank; Apr 2014.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Habit
Riverine woodland
Ngonye Falls, Sioma, Sioma District
Dec 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

Flowers
Riverine woodland
Ngonye Falls, Sioma, Sioma District
Dec 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms:
Common names:
Frequency:	Locally abundant
Status:	Native
Description:	Herb, erect, to 1 m. tall, or leaning and scrambling; with a single leafy lateral branch arising below the shorter flowering branch. Differs from G. superba in the flowers usually sessile and facing sideways, exceptionally stalked; funnel-shaped, the tepals not reflexed, orange or yellow, margins sinuate. Stamens approximately half the length of the tepals, not wide spreading, slightly upturned.
Type location:	Zambia
Notes:	Conservation status: Apparently widespread in the Upper Zambezi floodplains.
Derivation of specific name:
Habitat:	In riverine thickets and grassland, on slightly elevated banks of floodplain channels, or on the lower slopes of floodplain termite mounds. .
Altitude range:	950 - 1000 m
Flowering time:	Dec
Worldwide distribution:	South-western Zambia and Angola; unconfirmed reports from Caprivi.
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca):	B
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	W
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:	Lower Risk - least concern
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Thursday 4 April 2024
Literature:	Bingham, M.G. & Smith, P.P. (2002). Zambia, in Janice S. Golding: Southern African Plant Red Data List Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No 24 SABONET Page 140. Maroyi, A. (2012). The genus Gloriosa (Colchicaceae) - ethnobotany, phylogeny and taxonomy Wageningen University, Netherlands Page 120. Thesis (Includes a picture). Nordal, I. & Bingham, M.G. (1998). Description of a new species, Gloriosa sessiliflora (Colchicaceae), with notes on the relationship between Gloriosa and Littonia. Kew Bulletin 53 Page 479. (Includes a picture). Vinnersten, A. & Manning, J. (2007). A new classification of Colchicaceae. Taxon 56 Pages 171 - 178.

Other sources of information about Gloriosa sessiliflora:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: Gloriosa sessiliflora

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Gloriosa sessiliflora
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Gloriosa sessiliflora
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Gloriosa sessiliflora
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Gloriosa sessiliflora
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Gloriosa sessiliflora
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Gloriosa sessiliflora
JSTOR Plant Science: Gloriosa sessiliflora
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Gloriosa sessiliflora
Plants of the World Online: Gloriosa sessiliflora
Tropicos: Gloriosa sessiliflora
Wikipedia: Gloriosa sessiliflora