Trichocladus is a small genus of flowering shrubs and small trees belonging to the family Hamamelidaceae, placed in the order Saxifragales. The genus contains four accepted species, all native to eastern and southern Africa.
Plants in this genus are readily identified by their striking indumentum: branches and leaves are clothed in dense, velvet-like stellate (star-shaped) hairs, a feature reflected in the genus name. Leaves are simple, arranged alternately or oppositely, paler on the underside, with inconspicuous stipules. The flowers are gathered into dense, spherical heads and carry long, narrow petals that bear a close resemblance to those of the related witch-hazel genus Hamamelis. Floral parts are arranged in fours or fives; the sepals are fused into a tube. Plants may be hermaphroditic or have separate male and female flowers on the same plant (monoecious) or on different plants (dioecious). The fruit is a two-valved capsule, appearing four-valved at its apex.
The four species range across a broad arc of sub-Saharan Africa: Trichocladus crinitus, T. ellipticus, T. goetzei, and T. grandiflorus collectively span from Ethiopia south through Zimbabwe and Angola to South Africa.
Etymology
The name Trichocladus is derived from Greek: τριχός (trichos, 'hair') and κλάδος (klados, 'branch'), meaning 'hairy-branched' — a direct reference to the dense stellate hairs that cover the stems and leaves of plants in this genus.
Distribution
The four species of Trichocladus are distributed across eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia in the north through to Angola, Zimbabwe, and South Africa in the south.
Taxonomy Notes
Trichocladus is placed in the family Hamamelidaceae (the witch-hazel family) within the order Saxifragales. Its flowers closely resemble those of the genus Hamamelis (witch-hazel), sharing long, narrow petals and dense flower heads. GBIF records four accepted species under the genus.
