The following is a list of abbreviations used in this work.
| Abbreviation | Description |
| ± | more or less |
| 0 | absent |
| aff. | affinis: akin to |
| agg. | aggregate species |
| auct. | auctorum: of authors, but not of the original author |
| BOL | Bolus Herbarium, University of Cape Town, South Africa |
| C | Central Division of Zimbabwe |
| c. | circa: about |
| cf. | confer: comparable with; compare |
| CL | Communal Land |
| cm | centimetre(s) |
| conf. | confirmed by |
| det. | determined by |
| Distr. | District (plural: Distrs) |
| E | Eastern Division of Zimbabwe |
| ed. | editor |
| emend. | emendatus: emended |
| Est. | Estate |
| et al. | et alii: and others |
| f. | (following an author's name): filius: son |
| f. | (a taxonomic rank): forma: form |
| FE | Flora of Ethiopia |
| fig. | figure |
| fl. | flower (plural: fls) |
| Fm | Farm |
| fr. | fruit (plural: frs) |
| FSA | Flora of Southern Africa |
| FTEA | Flora of Tropical East Africa |
| FZ | Flora Zambesiaca |
| GHS | Government Herbarium Salisbury (referred to in the numbering system of SRGH) |
| Gt | Great |
| hort. | hortulanorum: of gardeners |
| in litt. | in litteris: in correspondence |
| ined. | ineditus: not yet formally published |
| infl. | inflorescence (plural: infls) |
| Is | Islands |
| K | The Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England |
| lf | leaf (plural: lvs) |
| lfless | leafless |
| lflet | leaflet (plural: lflets) |
| lfy | leafy |
| m | metre(s) |
| mm | millimetre(s) |
| MAH | Mark Andrew Hyde |
| Mt | Mount |
| Mtn | Mountain |
| N | Northern Division of Zimbabwe |
| NBG | Compton Herbarium, National Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa. |
| NE | North-east |
| NP | National Park |
| NR | Nature Reserve |
| nr | near |
| nom. illegit. | nomen illegitimum: latin for illegitimate name |
| nom. nud. | nomen nudum: latin for naked name, a name published without a description of the taxon |
| NW | North-west |
| opp. | opposite |
| p. | page |
| p.p. | pro parte: in part, partly |
| PA | Purchase Area |
| per. seg. | perianth segment (plural: per. segs) |
| pers. comm. | personal communication |
| pl. | plural |
| pp. | pages |
| PRE | National Herbarium, Botanical Research Institute, Pretoria, South Africa |
| q.v. | quod vide: which see |
| R. | River |
| Rd | Road |
| RP | Recreational Park |
| RS | Research Station |
| S | Southern Division of Zimbabwe |
| s.l. | sensu lato: in the broad sense |
| s.n. | sine numero: (of herbarium specimen) without a collector’s number |
| s.o. | seen only: (referring to a plant record) i.e. without a specimen being collected |
| s.s. | sensu stricto: in the strict sense |
| SE | South-east |
| sp. | species (plural: spp.) |
| SRGH | National Herbarium, Harare (Southern Rhodesia Government Herbarium) |
| subsp. | subspecies (plural: subspp.) |
| SW | South-west |
| UKWF | Agnew and Agnew (1994) |
| var. | varietas: variety |
| vol. | volume |
| W | Western Division of Zimbabwe |