Ehretia obtusifolia Hochst. ex Dc.

Species

Angiosperms > Boraginales > Boraginaceae > Ehretia

Characteristics

Shrub or small tree, usually virgately branched or small often straggling tree, often with several branches from the base, 1.8–6 m. tall, deciduous; bark grey; young shoots glandular-pubescent and with white non-glandular hairs and some adpressed pubescence, sometimes ferruginous; older stems pale brown, ± striate.. Leaf-blades elliptic, oblong-elliptic or obovate, 1.2–9(–11) cm. long, 0.7–6(–8.5) cm. wide, obtuse to shortly acuminate at apex but sometimes truncate, rounded or even ± emarginate, cuneate at the base, pubescent to velvety on both surfaces but not usually rough, the hairs on the upper surface, however, slightly bulbous-based but occasionally quite roughish (‘rougher with age’ fide B.D. Burtt 559); petiole up to 2 cm. long.. Flowers sweet-scented, in glandular pubescent terminal cymes 2.5 cm. wide but sometimes on very short lateral shoots and appearing axillary; where cymes are close on leafless branches the flowers are in dense masses up to 30 cm. long; peduncles 0.5–3 cm. long; pedicels 1–4.5 mm. long.. Calyx-lobes ovate, elliptic or narrowly triangular, 2 mm. long, 0.8 mm. wide, ciliate and puberulous, joined only at extreme base.. Corolla pink, blue, pale lilac or mauve, drying brown and white; tube cylindrical, 4–4.5 mm. long; lobes narrowly triangular to oblong, 3–4.5 mm. long, 1–1.2 mm. wide, acute or obtuse.. Filaments exserted 2–4 mm.. Style 4–6 mm. long with branches 1.5–2 mm. long or in T4 material 3 mm. long with 3 mm. long branches.. Fruits orange or red, globose, 5–6 mm. diameter, glabrous or densely shortly glandular-pubescent (see note); pyrenes subovoid, 4.5 mm. long, 3.5 mm. wide, excentrically excavated on inner two faces so as to appear like a human ear, the excavation nearest to the apical pointed end of the pyrene; outer face convex, very irregularly reticulate.
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Suffrutex, shrub or small tree, up to 3 m high. Leaf blade 17-25 x 10-12 mm, apex usually obtuse, margin entire, venation prominent on lower surface, upper surface with setae and scattered glandular trichomes, lower surface densely covered with setae and glandular trichomes; petiole up to 2-4 mm long, length of petiole : length of midrib = 1 : 6. Inflorescence a branched cyme, one or two at apex of a short abbreviated branchlet, densely covered with setae and glandular trichomes. Calyx lobes narrowly ovate to triangular, 2.5-3.0 mm long, apex obtuse to acute. Corolla tube cylindric, white, 5 mm long; lobes mauve or blue, ±4 mm long; margin at apex ciliate. Fruit glabrous, pyrenes 3.0-3.5 mm long.
Petiole 0.4–1.5(2.0) cm. long, glandular-pubescent; leaf lamina 3–8(13) x 1.5–5.0(7.0) cm., obovate or oblanceolate, sometimes widely elliptic, pubescent and with scattered glandular capitate hairs above, pubescent to densely pubescent beneath, sometimes glandular hairs only on the midrib and nerves, rounded to shortly acuminate at apex, cuneate to obtuse at base, with margins entire to coarsely dentate at apex, a few times crenate or crenate-dentate, papery, with 4–6 secondary nerves on each side of the midrib, usually without acarodomatia at the axils.
A shrub or small tree. It grows 1-10 m tall. It loses its leaves during the year. It has several stems. The leaves are alternate or in clusters on short side branches. They are broadly oval and 2-6 cm long by 1-4 cm wide. The leaves are leathery and softly hairy on both surfaces. The flowers are small and 5-7 mm wide. They are white and in dense clusters on short side shoots. They have a sweet scent. The fruit are red berries. They are 7 mm wide.
Flowers hermaphrodite, 5-merous, arranged in corymbs 3–7 cm. long, usually up to 30-flowered, rarely more, subsessile to well-pedunculate, terminal on the shoots or on the short shoots and often afterwards seemingly extra-axillary; peduncle and branches glandular-pubescent and sometimes bristly; pedicels 0.5–5.0 mm. long.
Small tree or shrub, up to 4.5(-6.0) m high. Leaf margins entire to crenate-dentate; lamina pubescent and usually with capitate glandular hairs; acarodomatia absent; petiole 4-15(-20) mm long. Corolla lobes as long as or shorter than tube, ± spreading. Flowers blue to mauve, rarely white or purple.
Shrub or small much branched tree up to 4.5(6) m. high, deciduous; branches pubescent with short glandular capitate hairs and scattered small bristles to subglabrous, glabrescent and greyish.
Corolla blue to mauve, rarely white or purple; tube 3.5–5.5 mm. long, cylindrical to narrowly funnel-shaped; lobes 3–4 x 1.5–2.0 mm., ovate to oblong, rounded at apex, ± spreading.
Fruit c. 5 x 7 x 5 mm., fleshy, often glandular-pubescent, sometimes glabrous, orange when ripe; pyrenes 4, irregularly reticulate-foveate on the outer surfaces.
Calyx 1.5–2.5 mm. long, lobed to near base, glandular-pubescent; lobes narrowly triangular to ovate, acute to obtuse at apex, ciliate.
Ovary ovoid, glabrous or glandular-puberulous; style 5–7 mm. long, divided from 1/101/3 of its length.
Anthers 1.0–1.6(1.8) mm. long, sagittate-oblong to linear; filaments 3.0–4.5 mm. long.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 3.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Woodlands, thickets, granite hills, very often on termite mounds, at elevations from 150-1,500 metres.
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It is a tropical plant. It is often on termite mounds between 150-1,500 m above sea level.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 3-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

Uses animal food fuel material medicinal wood
Edible fruits
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Ehretia obtusifolia world distribution map, present in Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Myanmar, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, eSwatini, Chad, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Ehretia obtusifolia threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:116088-1
WFO ID wfo-0000663500
COL ID 6DYFJ
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Ehretia braunii Ehretia obovata Ehretia fischeri Ehretia obovata Ehretia coerulea var. glandulosa Ehretia obtusifolia