Clerodendrum L.
Genus closely related to Volkameria (and in which Volkameria species were usually included), consisting of about 200 species in the tropics of the Old World, with some species reaching the N of China and Japan. In Clerodendrum the inflorescences are usually terminal, calyx lobes usually clearly accrescent, corolla red, yellow, pink or white and a fleshy fruit, separating into 2 or 4 pyrenes when mature. Whilst in Volkameria the inflorescences are axillary, calyx lobes rarely accrescent, corolla white or sometimes pink or purple, and fruits with suberose testa. In the study area there are 2 native shrubby species, both with white or greenish-white flowers, typical of the tropics of Africa, that reach along the Nile valley to S of Egypt.
Yao-Wu, Y., Mabberley, D.J., Steane, D.A. & Olmstead, R.G. 2010. Further desintegration and redefinition of Clerodendrum (Lamiaceae): implications for the understanding of the evolution of an intriguing breeding strategy. Taxon 59(1): 125-133.
Key to species
1 Flowers in lax cymes, with short and somewhat thick corolla tube, less than 2 times longer than calyx lobes C. formicarum
1 Flowers in very dense cymes, with slender corolla tube, much longer than calyx lobes C. capitatum
Updated by: J. Charco