Vernonia kirkii Oliv. & Hiern

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Along road no. 5A between Lion House and road no. 4, Gorongosa National Park

Photo: Bart Wursten
Nhacapanda Bridge, road from entrance gate to Chitengo, Gorongosa National Park

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Synonyms:	Vernonia swynnertonii S. Moore Vernonia zambesiaca S. Moore
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Description:	Bushy perennial herb, up to 60(150) cm tall. Stems ribbed, pubescent, branching above. Leaves sessile, linear-elliptic up to c. 16 × 2 cm, mostly less than 1 cm wide, hairy above, pubescent and minutely gland-pitted on both surfaces, often more so beneath; margin entire or finely and sparsely toothed, often rolled under. Capitula on long stiff stalks, up to 11 cm long, together forming a lax corymbose or subpaniculate head. Involucral bracts many-seriate, 2-11 mm long, glandular on the outside, especially towards the apices. Florets purple, up to 11 mm long.
Notes:	Specimens from Gorongosa National Park sometimes have shorter, elliptic to obovate leaves, c. 5 × 2 cm (Wild in Kirkia 11-1: 67, 1978). This would match the specimen in images 1 & 2 (Ballings & Wursten 326, BR).
Derivation of specific name:	kirkii: named after Dr John Kirk, who accompanied David Livingstone on his Zambezi expedition of 1858
Habitat:	On black alluvial clay in floodplain grassland and Acacia or mopane woodland.
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Worldwide distribution:	southern Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Mozambique distribution:	Z,T,MS
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Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Monday 14 May 2012
Literature:	Da Silva, M.C., Izidine, S. & Amude, A.B. (2004). A preliminary checklist of the vascular plants of Mozambique. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 30 Sabonet, Pretoria Page 35. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 29. Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 34. Pope, G.V. (1992). Compositae Flora Zambesiaca 6(1) Page 138. Wild, H. (1978). The Compositae of the Flora Zambesiaca area. 8. Vernonieae (Vernonia). Kirkia 11(1) Pages 66 - 67.

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Flora of Malawi: Vernonia kirkii
Flora of Zambia: Vernonia kirkii
Flora of Zimbabwe: Vernonia kirkii

External websites:

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