Rhabdotosperma Hartl, Beitr. Biol. Pflanzen 53 (1): 57 (1977)

Type species.

Rhabdotosperma brevipedicellatum (Engl.) Hartl.

Description.

Annual, biennial, or perennial herbs to small shrubs, simple or branched from the base or above, sometimes with woody base, from 30 to 250 cm tall. Indumentum glabrescent, glandular hairs, simple hairs, and branched stellate hairs. Stems erect, simple or many stemmed, robust, terete, or terete to angular. Basal and Cauline leaves in rosettes or rarely alternate, mostly oblong to oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, sometimes obovate, elliptic, or ovate, with entire, dentate, repand-crenulate, undulate or lobed-crenate, serrate to sinuate, crenate to denticulate, sinuate, dentate, serrate, pinnatifid-lobed margins, sessile or petiole. Inflorescence racemose forming panicle or spike; one or more accessory flowers, panicle, dichasium, or racemose. Upper and Lower bracts linear, lanceolate, oblong to lanceolate or elliptic, triangular to ovate, ovate, or ovate to lanceolate, cordate to triangular, or oblanceolate. Pedicel hairy or glabrescent, from 2 to 25 mm long. Bracteoles absent or present ovate or to oblanceolate, lanceolate, ovate to triangular or lanceolate to triangular, linear, or lanceolate to cordate. Calyx lobes linear, oblong, oblong-lanceolate, ovate-oblong, lanceolate, ovate-elliptic, or oblanceolate, apex mucronate, acute, obtuse, or apiculate, hairy, or glabrescent. Corolla yellow with or without marks in the throat, sometimes on the upper side, with or without pellucid glands, tubeless or with a tube up to 2 mm, hairy or glabrous inside and outside. Stamens 4 or 5, sometimes unstable (4–5). Filaments with whitish, yellowish-purple, yellowish-red, yellow, purple-violet to violet-whitish, red-purple, yellowish-white, yellowish-violet to red, violet-whitish, or creamy hairs, with all hairs up to the anthers, two anterior glabrous, or two anterior glabrous near the apex. Anthers all reniform, two anterior inserted obliquely, or two anterior inserted decurrent longitudinally. Ovary pyriform-ovoid, ellipsoid, ellipsoid to ovoid, ovoid, globose, globose to ovoid, or globose-subglobose, hairy, or glabrous. Style from 4 to 22 mm long, filiform, green, or red. Stigma spatulate, capitate, dilated, or disciform. Capsule pyriform-ovoid, ellipsoid, ellipsoid to ovoid, ovoid, globose, globose to ovoid, or globose-subglobose, hairy, or glabrous. Seeds numerous, bothrospermous, or aulacospermous.

Distribution.

In Asia, Africa, and Europe, but the center of diversity is in Turkey and Iran. Elsewhere, some species, such as Verbascum thapsus L. and V. blattaria L., have become widely naturalized or invasive in many other temperate regions of the world, including North America, Australia, and New Zealand.