Commiphora mollis Engl.

Species

Angiosperms > Sapindales > Burseraceae > Commiphora

Characteristics

Dioecious tree 3-8 m tall with a single trunk; bark brown to greyish green, usually peeling in thick discs; young branchlets sparsely pilose to densely pubescent, not spine-tipped. Leaves pinnate, 2-6-jugate, occasionally trifoliolate, sparsely pilose to tomentose, greyish green but usually distinctly paler and more hairy below; petiole 10-30 mm long; leaflets elliptic or oblong-elliptic but terminal leaflet often obovate (7-)24(-52) x (4-)11(-35) mm, sessile or subsessile but petiolule of terminal leaflet up to 15 mm long, margin entire, apex acute to obtuse, base cuneate to broadly cuneate. Inflorescence: simple or compound dichasial cymes up to 40 mm long, pilose to pubescent. Flowers unisexual, hypogynous. Pedicel 3-8 mm long, pedicel, calyx and corolla pilose to pubescent. Disc 4-lobed, not adnate to perianth. Stamens 8. Fruit subglobose, 15 x 13 x 13 mm, pilose to pubescent; putamen smooth; pseudo-aril with 4 winged arms, 2 commissural arms reaching almost to apex of putamen, 2 facial arms shorter.
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Small unarmed tree with a spreading crown and an ill-defined, often fluted trunk, up to 8 m. tall; bark grey; exudate not scented.. Leaves 5–13-foliolate, up to 13 cm. long; petiole well developed, longer than the terminal leaflet; leaflets entire, pubescent beneath and more sparsely so above, usually rather coriaceous when mature; lateral leaflets elliptic, rounded or acute at the base, rounded or acuminate apically, 10–50 mm. long, 8–20 mm. wide, the terminal leaflet rather larger, cuneate-obovate.. Inflorescence and flowers as in C. mildbraedii; fruit rather shorter, 9–12 × 9–10 × (3 + 4.5) mm., usually densely pubescent, occasionally subglabrous; arms of the pseudaril usually rather shorter.. Fig. 9/5.
A small to medium sized tree. It grows to 8-12 m high. The leaves have 2-6 pairs of leaflets and one at the end. The lower pair are smaller. The flowers are small and yellow to pinkish. They are in clusters in the axils of leaves. The fruit are almost round and 10 mm across. They are densely furry. They are green becoming red. The base of the stone is covered with a flat, scarlet false seed layer with 4 wings.
Leaves pinnate; petiole up to 5 cm. long, densely pubescent; leaflets 2–6-jugate, lamina up to 6 × 3 cm., elliptic or oblong-elliptic, apex acute or obtuse, margin entire, base rounded or broadly cuneate (terminal leaflet always cuneate), pubescent on both surfaces, sometimes distinctly paler and tomentose below; petiolules c. 0·5 mm., densely pubescent.
Tree, up to 8 m high. Branchlets and leaves pilose to tomentose. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets elliptic, oblong-elliptic or obovate, often distinctly paler below, margins entire. Disc of flower 4-lobed. Pseudo-aril with 4 winged arms. Flowers green to red.
Flowers appearing before the leaves or with the young leaves in clustered axillary dichasial cymes up to c. 2 cm. long; branches of inflorescence pubescent; pedicels slender, c. 2 mm. long; bracteoles caducous, c. 2 mm. long, subulate, brown, pubescent.
Small tree up to c. 8 m. tall; trunk often fluted; bark smooth, dark greenish or dark grey; young branches densely pubescent, sometimes spiny.
Fruit c. 1·1 × 0·9 cm., ellipsoid, densely pubescent; pseudaril with 4 arms; endocarp c. 9 × 8 mm., smooth, both faces deeply convex.
Calyx c. 2·5 mm. long, campanulate, lobed at least half-way, densely pubescent.
Petals up to 5 mm. long, pubescent at the back except towards the edges.
Stamen-filaments slender, subterete.
Disk 4-lobed.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 8.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 0.9
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. They grow at medium to low altitude in hot, dry types of woodland. It grows on well-drained sandy or stony soils. It grows between 100-1,500 m above sea level. It grows in areas with a rainfall between 200-900 mm per year. It can grow in arid places.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 5-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The roots are chewed raw.
Uses animal food environmental use food material medicinal social use
Edible fruits roots
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It can be grown from large cuttings. It can be cut back and re-grow.
Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Commiphora mollis unspecified picture

Distribution

Commiphora mollis world distribution map, present in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, United Republic of, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Commiphora mollis threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:127728-1
WFO ID wfo-0000617363
COL ID XG7Q
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Balsamea mollis Commiphora cinerea Commiphora dekindtiana Commiphora iringensis Commiphora krausei Commiphora montana Commiphora ndemfi Commiphora welwitschii Balsamea welwitschii Commiphora boehmii Commiphora mollis Commiphora stuhlmannii Balsamodendrum molle