Gnidia

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Gnidia pinifolia.jpg

|image_caption = Gnidia tomentosa

|taxon = Gnidia

|authority = L. (1753)

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = 104, see text

|subdivision_ref = {{cite web |title=Gnidia L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:39249-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=15 September 2024}}

|synonyms =

• Arthrosolen {{small|C.A.Mey. (2024)}}
• Basutica {{small|Phillips (1944)}}
• Canalia {{small|F.W.Schmidt (1793)}}
• Craspedostoma {{small|Domke (1934)}}
• Dessenia {{small|Adans. (1763)}}
• Epichrocantha {{small|Eckl. & Zeyh. ex Meisn. (1857), not validly publ.}}
• Gnidiopsis {{small|Tiegh. (1893)}}
• Nectandra {{small|P.J.Bergius (1767), nom. rej.}}
• Pseudognidia {{small|E.Phillips (1944)}}
• Rhytidosolen {{small|Tiegh. (1893)}}
• Struthia {{small|Royen ex L. (1758)}}
• Struthiolopsis {{small|E.Phillips (1944)}}
• Thymelina {{small|Hoffmanns. (1824)}}
• Trimeiandra {{small|Raf. (1838)}}

|synonyms_ref =

}}

Gnidia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. It is distributed in tropical and southern Africa and Madagascar; more than half of all the species are endemic to South Africa.Rogers, Z. S. (2006). [http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/curators/pdf/Rogers_2006_Gnidia_Adansonia_v28.pdf A new species of Malagasy Gnidia and the lectotypification of Octolepis decalepis (Thymelaeaceae).] Adansonia, sér. 3(28), 155-60. Gnidia was named for Knidos, an Ancient Greek city located in modern-day Turkey.Hyde, M. A., et al. [http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=996 Gnidia.] Flora of Zimbabwe. 2013.

These are perennial herbs and shrubs, sometimes with rhizomes. Most species have alternately arranged leaves, and a few have opposite leaves. The leaves are undivided and unlobed. The inflorescence is a head of a few to many flowers. The calyx is cylindrical and the colored lobes may alternate with the petals; some species lack petals. Many species are similar in appearance and difficult to tell apart.Beaumont, A. J., et al. (2001). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3668689?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102596167111 Patterns of diversity among involucral bracts, inflorescences and flowers in Gnidia (Thymelaeaceae).] Systematics and Geography of Plants 71(2), 419-31.

Molecular analyses have provided evidence that the genus is polyphyletic, made up of four different lineages. They are related to the four genera Struthiola, Drapetes, Lasiosiphon, and Pimelea.Beaumont, A. J., et al. (2009). [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00988.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false Gnidia (Thymelaeaceae) is not monophyletic: taxonomic implications for Thymelaeoideae and a partial new generic taxonomy for Gnidia.] Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 160(4), 402-17. {{doi|10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00988.x}}

Formerly 140 to 160 species were classified in the genus.Bhandurge, P., et al. (2013). [http://jbiopharm.com/index.php/ajbps/article/view/263 The Gnidia genus: A review.] Asian Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences 3(19), 1-31. Many have been reassigned to other genera and Plants of the World Online currently accepts 104 species.