Euclea coriacea A.Dc.

Species

Angiosperms > Ericales > Ebenaceae > Euclea

Characteristics

Shrublets 1-3 m or trees 3-10 m high, evergreen; branchlets rigid, bark greenish-brown, finely wrinkled, ultimate branchlets pubescent with rather coarse spreading hairs, dark brown. Leaves alternate with occasional subopposite pairs, discolorous, coriaceous and stiff, densely ferruginous-pubescent below with rather coarse spreading hairs, pubescent above when young, glabrescent, ovate-lanceolate, ovate or ovate-oblong, occasionally with a few leaves oblong-rotundate, 2-5 cm long and 1-3 cm wide, usually about 4 x 2 cm; base broad, usually distinctly rounded, occasionally subobtuse; apex acute, finely mucronate; secondary nerves and midrib raised below, not raised or only very finely so on upper surface; margin with a narrow cartilaginous thickening, subinvolute, very distinctly undulate, entire or minutely crenulate; petiole 2-5 mm long, pubescent; stipules absent. Inflorescence axillary, densely villous, 2-7-flowered, bracts large, hairy, broadly ovate, caducous; male inflorescence laxer, larger, and flowers with longer pedicels than in the female. Flowers dioecious, white to cream. Male flowers 5-7 mm long. Calyx campanulate, 1.5-2 mm long, hirsute on outside, with the 5-6 lobes cleft about halfway. Corolla urceolate, appressed-hirsute, densely so on the lobes; tube much longer than the short lobes; lobes 5-6, obtuse, about of length 1/6 of the tube. Stamens 14-20, in two rows, single or 2 together; filaments glabrous, 0.5-2 mm long, flattened; anthers lanceolate 2-3 mm long, apex acute, base subcordate, hairy especially on the connective, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Ovary rudimentary, hairy, with 2 glabrous linear style branches. Female flowers with calyx and corolla similar to those of the male flowers. Staminodes absent. Ovary globose, densely hispid, 4-celled with a single ovule pendulous from the inner wall in each cell; styles 2, hairy at the base only, glabrous upwards; stigma oblique, crescent-shaped. Fruit sparsely hirsute, glabrescent, fleshy, globose, turning green to yellow to deep red when ripe, 1.2-1.5 cm in diam., usually one-seeded (occasionally 2-3). Seeds 8-10 mm in diam., divided into 3 parts by a groove and two thin curved lines; endosperm flinty, pale grey, somewhat ruminate; embryo slightly curved.
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An evergreen shrub 1-3 m in height or a tree up to 10 m. Bark: greenish brown, wrinkled; branchlets with coarse dark brown hairs. Leaves: spirally arranged, occasionally sub-opposite, ovate to oblong, 2-5 x 1-3 cm, stiff, leathery, green, hairless above, discolorous, with dense, rusty, spreading hairs, midrib and lateral veins ridged on the undersurface, lateral veins looping and joining up before the margin; apex tapering, with a hair-like tip; base rounded to slightly lobed; margin entire or minutely scalloped, distinctly thickened and very wavy; petiole 2-5 mm long. Flowers: creamy white, about 7 mm long, up to 7 flowers in very hairy axillary clusters about 1.5-2 cm long, bracts large, ovate, hairy, falling early (Sept./Oct.). Fruit: almost round, about 1.5 cm in diameter, yellow to red, 2-7 in shorts spray about 2 cm long (Nov.-Jan.).
Shrub or tree, 1-3(-10) m high. Branches pubescent when young, with coarse spreading hairs. Leaves alternate, occasionally subopposite; blade discolorous, coriaceous and stiff, ovate, narrowly ovate or ovate-oblong, 20-50 x 10-30 mm, margin distinctly undulate, entire or minutely crenulated. Flowers: in a 2-7-flowered, densely hairy, axillary inflorescence; corolla ± 2-4 mm long, shallowly lobed, white to cream-coloured; Sep.-Nov. Fruit 12-15 mm in diameter, turning green to yellow to deep red when ripe.
Evergreen tree or shrub, 1-3 m high; bark greenish brown, wrinkled; ultimate branchlets pubescent. Leaves alternate, petiolate, coriaceous, ovate-lanceolate, stiff, ferruginous-pubescent below, margins with narrow cartilaginous thickening, entire. Inflorescence axillary, villous, 2-7-flowered; male inflorescence laxer, larger and flowers with longer pedicels than female. Bracts large, hairy. Flowers white to cream-coloured. Fruit globose, fleshy, yellow to red, 15 mm in diam. Seeds 8-10 mm in diam.
A shrub or tree. It grows 3 m tall and can be 10 m tall. The bark is greenish brown and wrinkled. The leaves are arranged in spirals. They are 2-5 cm long by 1-3 cm wide. The flowers are in a cluster of 7. The flowers are creamy white and 7 mm long. The fruit are almost round and 1.5 cm wide. They are red to yellow.
Life form -
Growth form
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 2.0 - 3.0
Root system -
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Flower color
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Fruit color
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Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a subtropical plant.
Light -
Soil humidity 1-3
Soil texture 4-7
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

Uses medicinal
Edible fruits
Therapeutic use Divination (unspecified), Purgative (unspecified), Gall (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
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Optimum temperature (C°) -
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Distribution

Euclea coriacea world distribution map, present in Lesotho and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:323297-1
WFO ID wfo-0000681073
COL ID 3BTSS
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Euclea coriacea