Pandiaka confusa
Selected images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View all images (5)
Habit
Open dambo grassland plain
Mwinilunga District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Leaves
Open dambo grassland plain
Mwinilunga District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Inflorescences
Open dambo grassland plain
Mwinilunga District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Flower
Open dambo grassland plain
Mwinilunga District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Flower
Open dambo grassland plain
Mwinilunga District
Nov 2025
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: |
Cyathiula confusa (C.C.Towns.) Di Vincenzo, Berrends., Wondafr. & Borsch. Pandiaka schweinfurthii var. compacta Suesseng. & Overk. Pandiaka schweinfurthii var. parvifolia Suesseng. & Overk. Pandiaka schweinfurthii var. minor Suesseng. & Overk. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | Locally common |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Perennial herb with a tuberous rootstock, much-branched from the base with numerous, erect stems, these sometimes simple in shorter forms but usually also more or less branched, 15–50 cm tall; stem and branches quadrangular above, terete below, striate, moderately to rather densely furnished with upwardly directed or more or less patent whitish hairs. Leaves opposite or the upper occasionally ternate, elliptic or narrowly elliptic, 2–7.2 × 0.4–2.5 cm, gradually or more abruptly narrowed at base and apex, more or less acute, moderately to densely furnished on both surfaces with appressed hairs, rarely sublanate. Inflorescence cylindrical, 2–12 × 1.5–2 cm, dense, the axis densely white-pilose, sessile or with a peduncle up to 4 cm long. Bracts deltoid-ovate, 5–6 mm long, subglabrous, ciliate or sparsely (the midrib sometimes more densely) pilose, membranous except for the greenish midrib, which is excurrent in a long more or less pilose arista. Bracteoles very similar, not falling with the perianth, the arista about half the length of the lamina. Tepals all rather narrowly lanceolate, narrowly hyaline-margined, obscurely 3–5-nerved in the central green portion, more or less densely pilose with fine, patent or subpatent greenish-white hairs; outer 2 tepals 7–10 mm long, the inner 3 gradually less pilose and slightly more broadly margined. Ripe capsule oblong-ovoid, c. 3 mm long; seeds oblong-ovoid, c. 2.75 mm long, brown, shining, faintly reticulate. |
| Type location: |
Zambia |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | confusa: confused |
| Habitat: | Occurs on laterite in open ground or Brachystegiawoodland |
| Altitude range: (metres) | |
| Flowering time: | Nov |
| Worldwide distribution: | Angola and western Zambia |
| FZ divisions: | W |
| Zambian distribution (Provinces): | Nw |
| Growth form(s): | Perennial. |
| Endemic status: | Near Endemic |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Images last updated: | Monday 30 March 2026 |
| Literature: |
Townsend, C.C. (1988). Amaranthaceae Flora Zambesiaca 9(1) Page 119. |
Other sources of information about Pandiaka confusa:
External websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Pandiaka confusaAfrican Plant Database: Pandiaka confusa
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Pandiaka confusa
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Pandiaka confusa
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Pandiaka confusa
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Pandiaka confusa
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Pandiaka confusa
JSTOR Plant Science: Pandiaka confusa
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Pandiaka confusa
Plants of the World Online: Pandiaka confusa
Tropicos: Pandiaka confusa
Wikipedia: Pandiaka confusa