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Dichapetalum rhodesicum Sprague & Hutch.

Species

Angiosperms > Malpighiales > Dichapetalaceae > Dichapetalum

Characteristics

A small shrub. It grows 1.2 m high and keeps growing from year to year. It is succulent. The bark is light brown and hairy. The leaves are green and broadly oval. They are 8-10 cm long. They taper to the tip. The leaves have velvety hairs underneath. The flowers are 3 cm long. They occur as a few flowers in the axils of leaves. Flowers have a reddish covering outside. The flowers are white. The fruit are oval and have a grey covering.
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Leaf-lamina 5–12 × 2–4·5 cm., oblong-elliptic, oblong-ovate or oblong-lanceolate, discolorous, green-brown, pubescent above, densely pale grey-green tomentose below, acute or rounded and mucronulate at the apex, rounded or subcuneate at the base; lateral nerves 5–7 pairs, conspicuous above, prominent below; petiole 3–4 mm. long; stipules 5–7 mm. long, linear-subulate.
Cymes up to 3 cm. long, axillary, few-flowered; peduncles c. 1 cm. long; bracts c. 2 mm. long, linear.
Shrub c. 60 cm. tall; branchlets, petioles, stipules and inflorescence densely fulvous-tomentose.
Calyx 4–5 mm. long; sepals oblong-obovate, acute, reddish-tomentose outside, puberulous inside.
Ovary ovoid, densely villous; style c. 2 mm. long, glabrous, shortly lobed.
Petals c. 4 mm. long, oblong-obovate, 2-lobed, externally sparsely pilose.
Fruit (unripe) ovoid-globose, densely tomentose.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.6 - 1.2
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Environment

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in hot arid places. It can be in areas with a dry season of 6-11 months. It grows in well-drained sandy soils. It can grow in arid places.
Light -
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The fruit pulp is eaten raw.
Uses food social use
Edible fruits
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
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Distribution

Dichapetalum rhodesicum world distribution map, present in Angola, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:316336-1
WFO ID wfo-0000645409
COL ID 35L2T
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Dichapetalum rhodesicum
WorldFloraDB 2024