Commiphora marlothii Engl.

Species

Angiosperms > Sapindales > Burseraceae > Commiphora

Characteristics

Dioecious tree up to 9 m tall; bark peeling in large yellowish papery pieces; young branchlets obtuse, densely pilose to pubescent. Leaves pinnate, 3-5-jugate, pubescent to tomentose, dark green; petiole 15-95 mm long, with medullary vascular bundles; leaflets obovate to broadly elliptic; petiolules 1-2 mm long; margins crenate-serrate to finely lobed, apex obtuse to acute, base cuneate or rounded, terminal leaflet up to 80 x 40 mm, lateral leaflets up to 60 x 35 mm. Inflorescence: axillary, paniculate simple or compound dichasial cymes. Flowers unisexual, hypogynous. Pedicel less than 1 mm long, pedicel and calyx pubescent. Petals pilose outside. Disc 4-lobed, pilose, not adnate to perianth. Stamens 8. Fruit subglobose, ±20 x 17 x 16 mm, pilose; putamen slightly rugose; pseudo-aril yellow, with 4 arms, 2 commissural arms reaching almost to apex of putamen, 2 facial arms shorter and of different lengths.
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A small to medium sized tree. It grows to 13 m tall. It often has a thick trunk. The bark is green and peeling. It peels in yellow, papery sheets. The leaves have 3-4 pairs of opposite leaflets then an end leaflet. The leaflets are oblong and 3-7.5 cm long by 2-4 cm wide. They are pale green. They are soft. The edges of the leaflets are scalloped. The flowers are small and yellow. They are in the axils of leaves. They are in compact heads 1.8 cm across. The fruit are oval and green or brownish-red. They have a small sharp tip. The stone has a 4 loved aril or seed layer. This is yellow or red.
Leaves pinnate; petiole up to 10 cm. long, tomentose; leaflets 3–4-jugate, lamina c. 6 × 3·3 cm., oblong to obovate-oblong, apex acute or obtuse, margin coarsely crenate or crenate-serrate, base rounded (cuneate in terminal leaflet) and asymmetric, densely pilose or tomentose on both surfaces; petiolules c. 0·5 mm. long, tomentose.
Tree, up to 9 m high. Bark peeling in large yellowish papery pieces. Leaves imparipinnate, pubescent to tomentose; leaflets obovate to broadly elliptic, 80 x 40 mm, margins crenate-serrate to finely lobed. Fruit more than 15 mm in diameter. Flowers yellowish green.
Flowers appearing with the leaves, in axillary paniculate cymes up to c. 15 cm. long; branches of inflorescence tomentose; pedicels clustered, very short, or the flowers subsessile; bracteoles c. 6 mm. long, lanceolate-subulate, densely pilose.
Fruit c. 1·2 × 0·8 cm., ellipsoid, minutely apiculate, pilose; pseudaril with (3) 4 arms; endocarp c. 8·5 × 5 mm., surface rather lumpy, both faces moderately convex.
Small tree c. 5 m. tall; bark peeling, yellowish (green in the underlayer); young branches tomentose or densely pubescent.
Calyx c. 2 mm. long, campanulate, lobed less than half-way, densely pilose outside.
Petals 2–3 mm. long, spreading, pilose outside.
Stamen-filaments subterete.
Disk-lobes 4, pilose.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 9.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. It is normally always associated with rocky or stony hill slopes. In Zimbabwe it grows between 500-1,550 m above sea level.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The fruit are eaten. They are sometimes processed into jelly or jam. The root is chewed for its sweet juice. It is first peeled.
Uses material medicinal
Edible fruits roots
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It can be grown from seeds or by large cuttings. It is usually best grown from seeds.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Commiphora marlothii world distribution map, present in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Commiphora marlothii threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:127722-1
WFO ID wfo-0000617357
COL ID XG7K
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Commiphora marlothii