''Tromotriche'' is a genus of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...

. It is native to southern Africa.Gibbs Russell, G. E., W. G. M. Welman, E. Retief, K. L. Immelman, G. Germishuizen, B. J. Pienaar, M. Van Wyk & A. Nicholas. 1987. List of species of southern African plants. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa 2(1–2): 1–152(pt. 1), 1–270(pt. 2).

Description

''Tromotriche'' was first described as a genus in 1812, and its Greek name refers to the quivering hairs that surround the lobes of its flowers (''"tromo-"'' = "trembling"; ''"-trichos"'' = "hair"). The soft stems of ''Tromotriche'' species are obtusely, roundly four-angled (in cross section). Low, rounded mounds run along the edges of the angles, and leaf remnants are not visible. The stem surface is soft but often slightly rough. The varied flowers appear along the stems, and often have the characteristic hairs on the outsides of the lobes.

Distribution

This genus is restricted to the western (winter rainfall) regions of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Its natural range closely mirrors that of the related genus ''

Quaqua The genus ''Quaqua'' falls within the tribe of plants known collectively as stapeliads. All stapeliads, including ''Quaqua'', are Old World stem succulents. Species of the genus ''Quaqua'' are exceptionally varied and endemic to southwestern ...

''. The ''Tromotriche'' species in the north of its range tend to inhabit rocky quartz flats; while the three species in the south are each restricted to a small spot within the sandstone Cape Fold mountain ranges. ;SpeciesThe Plant List
/ref> ;formerly included ''Tromotriche obliqua'' (Willd.) G. Don in Loudon, synonym of ''

Stisseria obliqua ''Stisseria'' is a genus of plants in the Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1759. ;Species accepted ;formerly included moved to other genera ''( Duvalia, Gonostemon, Hoodia, Orbea, Quaqua, Tridentea ''Tridentea'' is a genus of s ...

'' (Willd.) Kuntze

References

Apocynaceae genera {{Apocynaceae-stub