7191.010 Rotheca Raf.

Suffrutices, shrubs or small trees. Leaves usually in whorls. Inflorescence a usually lax cyme. Calyx often red or purple, lobed to half its length or less, with 4-6 lobes. Flower bud markedly asymmetric; corolla expanding abruptly on lower side only; anterior corolla lobe frequently much larger than the other 4. Corolla pale to deep blue, occasionally white or yellow. Anthers usually basifixed. Stigma lobes frequently unequal. Fruit a 4-lobed or -furrowed drupe with 4 pyrenes.

Derivation of name: Latinised version of tsjerou-Theka, a Malayalam name meaning "little teak"

Worldwide: c. 35 species in tropical and southern Africa

Malawi: 6 taxa.