Monanthotaxis buchananii (Engl.) Verdc.
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/10.3767/blumea.2021.66.02.01 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/565E87CB-FF93-F94F-B350-3BC6A04B2530 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Monanthotaxis buchananii (Engl.) Verdc. |
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10. Monanthotaxis buchananii (Engl.) Verdc. View in CoL — Fig. 5e–i View Fig ; Plate 2a View Plate 2 ; Map 7 View Map 7
Monanthotaxis buchananii (Engl.) Verdc. (1971b) 24. — Unona buchananii Engl. (1895) 179. — Popowia buchananii (Engl.) Engl.& Diels (1901) 47. — Lectotype (designated by Johnson & Murray 2018): J.Buchanan 1152 (lecto B100153048; isolecto BM000553828, K000198971), Malawi, 1891; other syntypes: F.L. Stuhlmann 6238 (B not seen), Tanzania, Pwani, Usaramo, Kisserewe, Jan. 1894; F.L. Stuhlmann 6703 (B not seen), Tanzania, Pwani, Usaramo, Kisserewe, Feb. 1894.
Popowia djurensis Engl. & Diels (1901) 49. — Lectotype (designated here): G.A. Schweinfurth 1931 (lecto B ( B100154092 ); isolecto E00624347 , K000198981 , K000198982 , MEL2382325 View Materials , P00362788 , S, WU0025874 ), South Sudan, Western Equatoria,‘im lande der Djur,grosse Seriba Ghatta’, 12 June 1869; other syntypes: G.A. Schweinfurth 2046 (B, K000198983 , P00362787 , WU0025873 ), South Sudan, Western Equatoria,im lande der Djur, Seriba Ghattas, 10 July 1869; F.L. Stuhlmann 1470 (B not seen, BR), Uganda, South Buganda , Sese Isl. , Jan. 1891.
Small tree, shrub, scandent shrub or liana, 0.7–7 m long; young branches pale brown (rarely? green in vivo), sparsely covered with appressed, reddish brown hairs c. 0.4 mm long, becoming glabrous; old branches pale grey or pale brown, sometimes purplish brown in living specimens. Leaves: petiole 2– 4 mm long, 0.5–1 mm diam, grooved, covered with appressed, reddish brown or white hairs; lamina narrowly oblong-elliptic, 4.5–10.7(–13.2) by 1.1–3.8(–4.9) cm, (2.2–)3–5.3 times longer than wide, chartaceous, not punctate, young leaves above sparsely covered with long, white hairs, soon becoming glabrous except for the primary vein, below covered with appressed, pale brown hairs c. 0.2 mm long, base cuneate to rounded or slightly subcordate, with small black glands, apex acute to rounded, primary vein yellowish or reddish, often distinctly contrasting with darker petiole, secondary veins 9–16 per side, straight upwards, tertiary venation slightly reticulate, slightly raised above and below or not visible above. Inflorescences leaf-opposed, composed of solitary flowers or up to 4-flowered rhipidia; sympodial rachis 0–3 mm long in flower, to 5 mm long in fruit; pedicels 8–32 mm long, 0.3–0.6 mm diam, fruiting pedicels 0.5–0.8 mm diam, covered with reddish brown hairs; lower bracts depressed ovate, c. 1 by 2 mm, covered with reddish brown hairs; upper bract ovate, 0.5–1 by 0.2–0.5 mm, indumentum as pedicel; flower buds depressed globose to deltoid-ovoid. Flowers bisexual; sepals free, depressed triangular-ovate, 0.8–1.5 by 1.5–2 mm, covered with reddish brown, short hairs, persistent in fruit; receptacle 2–3 mm diam, flat, covered with short, brown hairs between the carpels and stamens; petals yellowish green to bright yellow, 6, in two whorls, outer petals ovate to broadly ovate, 4.6–7 by 3–5.5 mm, outside covered with white to yellowish, short hairs, base and apex of inside covered with hairs <0.1 mm long, inner petals narrowly ovate, 3–6 by 1–2.4 mm, indumentum as on outer petals; stamens 11–15, in one whorl, adnate to base of petals or free, obconical to clavate, 0.8–1 mm long, filaments 0.2–0.3 mm long, thecae latrorse to extrorse, connective truncate, circular or quadrate seen from above, slightly prolonged inward, glabrous, staminodes absent; carpels 9–14, subcylindric to ellipsoid, 1–1.2 by c. 0.5 mm, densely hairy, ovules 1 or 2, basal or lateral, stigma elongate, 0.2–0.4 mm long, grooved to almost bifurcate, glabrous. Monocarps up to 13, dull orange to red when ripe, fusiform, narrowly ellipsoid to subglobose, 13–23 by 5–6 mm, rugulose to smooth, base and apex sparsely covered with appressed, short hairs, apex apiculate, apiculum 1–1.5 mm long, stipes 4.5–7 mm long, slightly to strongly grooved. Seeds 1 or 2, ellipsoid, 7.5–10.5 by 5.5–7 mm, ochre-brown, both ends rounded to sometimes slightly apiculate, raphe slightly visible as a longitudinal furrow from base to apex.
Distribution — CentralAfrican Republic, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe.
Habitat & Ecology — In mixed woodland, evergreen forest, semi-deciduous forest, dry forest, secondary forest, riverine woodland, dry coastal woodland, submontane forest, savannah, wooded grassland; stony hillslopes, on sandy soils, sandy loam, rocky river banks, flat laterite, near termite hills. Altitude: 0–1430 m. Flowering and fruiting: all year round.
Vernacular names — Kenya: Mbulushi (Kikambe name) (W.D. Hawthorne 258). Malawi: Nkhokwe (I.H. Patel 881, 909 & J.L. Balaka 71), Njokondo ( Tonga name) (J. Pawek 6108). South Sudan: Chulu (Dinkwa name) (F.W. Andrews 628), Milili (Kakwa name) (J.G. Myers 13841), Mo’ba (Mödö name) (J. Persson 55). Tanzania: Kizanaki (Kinaswa name) (R.E.S. Tanner 4350), Milegeselegese (Kihehe name) (F. Haerdi 219), Mkeja (FrontierTanzania Coastal Forest Research Programme 1943), Mpegeho (H.J. Ndangalasi 0624), Msafu-simba (Kidoe name) (Y.S. Abeid 445), Mugoweko (Kisagara name) (F. Haerdi 219).
Preliminary IUCN conservation status — Least concern (LC). EOO: 4 256 330 km 2, AOO: 592 km 2. This species is known from many localities and national parks.
Notes — 1. Ripe fruits smell as overripe bananas when opened.
2. Monanthotaxis buchananii can easily be distinguished from all other species of Monanthotaxis by having pale brown branches and narrowly oblong-elliptic leaves. It is sometimes confused with Cleistochlamys kirkii (Benth.) Oliv. , which has sessile flowers on leafless branches. Sterile specimens can be distinguished in the different tertiary venation, which is more reticulate and slightly more raised above in Cleistochlamys .
3. There are 3 syntypes mentioned in the protologue, J. Buchanan 1152, F. L. Stuhlmann 6238 & 6703. The collections from Stuhlmann should be present in Berlin, but have not been seen by us. J. Buchanan 1152 is present in three different herbaria and therefore the most complete sheet from Berlin, which, therefore, has been designated as lectotype. G. A. Schweinfurth 1931 is designated as lectotype for Popowia djurensis as it contains better material and is present in more herbaria than the parasyntype G. A. Schweinfurth 2046 .
4. N.A. Mwangulango 408 and H.J. Ndangalasi 624 from Tanzania have very large leaves and the fruits of Mwangulango 408 are more cylindric (c. 10 by 5 mm). However, no other characters have been found which could distinguish these from the other collections
5. R.B. Drummond 3882 from coastal Kenya has a purplish brown bark, which dries grey and the leaf base is cuneate to almost attenuate.
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University of the Witwatersrand |
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Field Museum of Natural History, Botany Department |
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Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Leiden University branch |
| G |
Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève |
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Harvard University - Arnold Arboretum |
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