Schouwia DC.

Herbs, annual, glabrous; stems woody, diffusedly branched. Leaves simple, alternate; basal ones shortly pedicelled to sessile; upper ones amplexicaul. Racemes both terminal and lateral. Flowers violet or rose-purple. Sepals erect; outer 2 linear; inner 2 oblong-ovate, more or less saccate at base. Fruits oval or ovate-suborbicular, laterally compressed with a cordate base, terminated by a retuse style; valves membranous, reticulate, broadly winged. Seeds many, 2-seriate; cotyledons conduplicate; radicle accumbent.

Chiefly distributed in Southwest Asia and Northeast Tropical Africa; 2 species, 1 in India.

List of Lower Taxa