5538.000 Combretum Loefl.

Description of the genus

Trees, shrubs, or woody climbers. Leaves opposite, whorled, subopposite or rarely alternate, usually entire; petiole sometimes persisting and forming a ± hooked spine. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, 4-5-merous. Calyx 4-5 (rarely more). Petals usually 4-5, variously coloured. Stamens twice as many as petals, in 1 or 2 series. Ovary inferior. Fruit 4-5-winged. A generally recognisable genus but Schrebera trichoclada in leaf looks very similar. The flowers of many species resemble those of willows (Salix species), hence their common name of Bushwillow.

Worldwide: 250 species in the tropics, excluding Australia

Caprivi: 20 taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Coeliades forestan (Striped policeman) Food plant
Coeliades pisistratus (Two-pip policeman) Larval foodplant
Hemerophanes Hemerophanes libyra (Variegated Vapourer) Larval food plant
Pseudaphelia apollinaris (Apollo moth) Food plant
Trabala charon Larval foodplant
Combretum hereroense subsp. hereroense

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
albopunctatum Suess.
apiculatum Sond. subsp. apiculatum Description, Image
apiculatum Sond. subsp. leutweinii (Schinz) Exell
celastroides Welw. ex M.A. Lawson subsp. celastroides Description, Image
collinum Fresen.[Agg]Description, Image
elaeagnoides KlotzschDescription, Image
engleri Schinz
hereroense Schinz subsp. hereroense Description, Image
imberbe WawraDescription, Image
molle R.Br ex G. DonDescription, Image
mossambicense (Klotzsch) Engl.Description, Image
oxystachyum Welw. ex M.A.Lawson
platypetalum M.A.Lawson subsp. baumii (Engl. & Gilg) Exell
platypetalum Welw. ex M.A. Lawson subsp. oatesii (Rolfe) ExellDescription, Image
platypetalum Welw. ex M.A. Lawson subsp. platypetalum
psidioides Welw.[Agg]Description, Image
psidioides Welw. subsp. dinteri (Schinz) ExellDescription
psidioides Welw. subsp. psidioides Description
schumannii Engl.
zeyheri Sond.Description, Image

Other sources of information about Combretum:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Combretum
Flora of Burundi: Combretum
Flora of the DRC: Combretum
Flora of Malawi: Combretum
Flora of Mozambique: Combretum
Flora of Rwanda: Combretum
Flora of Zambia: Combretum
Flora of Zimbabwe: Combretum
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Combretum

External websites:

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

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-25

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2025). Flora of Caprivi: Genus page: Combretum.
https://www.capriviflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1007, retrieved 2 April 2025

Site software last modified: 5 February 2025 2:16pm (GMT +2)
Terms of use