Lannea humilis Engl.

Species

Angiosperms > Sapindales > Anacardiaceae > Lannea

Characteristics

Deciduous shrub or small tree up to 6 m. high; bole thick with grey to almost black smooth spongy bark; branches brownish grey, cylindric, striate, lenticellate, glabrous; branchlets densely whitish tomentose with small rigid-armed stellate hairs; crown flat or spreading.. Leaves (3–)5–21-foliolate, scattered along the terminal twigs or somewhat crowded on the short floriferous lateral branches; rachis 3–15 cm. long, semicylindric, longitudinally grooved above, densely stellate-tomentose; leaflets ovate, obovate, oblong or elliptic, terminal 2–3 cm. long, 1–1.8 cm. broad, laterals 1–3 cm. long, 0.8–1.3 cm. broad, obtuse at the apex, unequally rounded or subcordate to somewhat cuneate at the base, discolorous, upper surface with sparsely stellate hairs mixed with minute simple ones, lower surface densely white stellate-tomentose, lateral ones sessile or subsessile, terminal one with petiolule 2–10 mm. long; midrib sunk above, prominent beneath, lateral nerves impressed above and raised beneath.. Inflorescences spike-like, 2–5 cm. long, clustered on short lateral branchlets; axis den-sely whitish tomentose; pedicels 1–4 mm. long.. Calyx-lobes ovate, ± 1.5 mm. long and broad, tomentose.. Petals 2.5–4.5 mm. long, 1.5–2 mm. broad, yellowish, unguicu-late.. Drupe oblong, somewhat compressed and oblique, 9–13 mm. long, 5–8 mm. in diameter, greyish tomentose.
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Leaves (3)5–21-foliolate, scattered along the terminal twigs or ± crowded on the short floriferous lateral branches; petiole and rhachis 3–15 cm. long, subcylindric, canaliculate on the upper side, ± densely stellate-tomentose; leaflets discolorous, dark green and with ± sparse stellate hairs mixed with minute simple ones on the upper surface, densely white-stellate-tomentose to sparsely so (in aged leaves) below, coriaceous; terminal leaflet 2–3 × 1–1·8 cm., oblong to obovate, obtuse at the apex, ± cuneate at the base with a petiolule 0·2–1 cm. long; lateral leaflets 1–3 × 0·8–1·3 cm., ovate, oblong or elliptic, obtuse at the apex, unequally rounded or subcordate at the base, subsessile to very shortly petiolulate; midrib sunk above, prominent below, lateral nerves nearly invisible above, raised below.
It is a shrub. It grows 3-6 m high. The crown is flat. The leaves have 5-21 leaflets. The leaves have white hairs underneath. The end leaflet is 2-3 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. The side leaflets are 1-3 cm long by about 1 cm wide. The flowers are in spike like groups. These are 2-5 cm long. The petals are yellow. The fruit is fleshy. It has a grey coating. The fruit are 9-13 mm long by 5-8 mm wide. The are oblong.
A shrub or small tree up to 6 m. tall; bole thick; crown flat or spreading; branches brownish-grey, cylindric, striate, lenticellate, glabrous; branchlets densely whitish-tomentose with small rigid-armed stellate hairs.
Inflorescences spike-like, unbranched or with a few branches, 2–5 cm. long, clustered on short lateral branchlets, with the flowers glomerate; axis and branches densely whitish-tomentose; pedicels 1–4 mm. long.
Calyx-segments c. 1–5 × 1–5 mm., ovate, tomentose; petals yellowish, 2·3–4·5 × 1·5–2 mm., unguiculate.
Drupe greyish-tomentose, 9–13 × 5–8 mm., oblong, somewhat compressed and oblique.
A shrub or much branched tree, seldom more than 10 ft. high
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 3.05 - 6.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 0.6
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a tropical plant. In Ethiopia it grows in semi-arid bushland. In West Africa it grows in dry woodland and savannah. It also grows in swamps. It grows in the lowlands. It grows between 700-1,700 m above sea level.
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Dry savannah. Woodlands of several types and in swamps. Deciduous woodland; wooded grassland; often at edges of seasonally flooded valleys and other local water catchments; at elevations from 700-1,700 metres.
In dry savannah regions.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The ripe fruit are eaten raw as a snack. The skin of the root is removed and the inner portion eaten cooked or raw.
Uses animal food environmental use fiber food material medicinal wood
Edible fruits roots
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

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

Distribution

Lannea humilis world distribution map, present in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal, South Sudan, Chad, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:69780-1
WFO ID wfo-0000360290
COL ID 3S7G5
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Lannea bagirmensis Odina humilis Odina tomentosa Commiphora taborensis Lannea tomentosa Tapirira humilis Calesiam humile Calesiam tomentosum Lannea humilis