Megaphrynium macrostachyum (Benth.) Milne-redh.

Species

Angiosperms > Zingiberales > Marantaceae > Megaphrynium

Characteristics

Glabrous or pubescent herb; rhizome up to 6 m. long bearing singly numerous leaves.. Stem up to 2.5 m. long.. Leaves with petiole up to 5 m. long but often less; calloused part 7–15 cm. long; blade ovate-elliptic, ± symmetric, normally 6 dm., occasionally up to 9 dm. long, acute or shortly acuminate, ± rounded at the base.. Inflorescence arising 10–33 cm. below the calloused part of the petiole, up to 25 cm. long; internodes up to 20, 4–8 mm. long; bracts 17–23 mm. long, white; peduncle 6–10 mm. long; fleshy bracteole about 2.5 mm. long.. Flowers white, tinged yellow or orange, when expanded about 2 cm. in diameter.. Fruit depressed globose, about 2.5 cm. in diameter, smooth, bright scarlet, with white pulp inside, normally 3-seeded; seed as in Fig. 1/2A,p. 3, about 15 mm. long, chocolate-purple, bluish-violet or black, clothed in a deeply laciniate whitish aril.. Fig. 1/2 and 2A,p. 3.
More
A semi-woody herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It forms clumps with stems 2-4 m high. There is one large leaf 30-60 cm long by 12-30 cm wide. The flowers are on the leaf stalk below the leaf. The flowers are white with purple. The fruit are round and red. The pulp is white. The seed is black.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
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Mature height (meter) -
Root system rhizome
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Flower color
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Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a tropical plant. It grows in wet places in the forest in West Africa.
Light -
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The young leaf button is cooked as a vegetable. The fruit pulp is eaten raw. The seeds are roasted and eaten. The stem fibres are burnt as a salt.
Uses environmental use fiber food fuel gene source material medicinal social use
Edible fruits leaves seeds stems
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
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Images

Megaphrynium macrostachyum unspecified picture

Distribution

Megaphrynium macrostachyum world distribution map, present in Central African Republic, Congo, Cabo Verde, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:565168-1
WFO ID wfo-0000471005
COL ID 3YWMF
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Phrynium adenocarpum Phrynium oxycarpum Phyllodes adenocarpa Phyllodes oxycarpa Sarcophrynium adenocarpum Sarcophrynium macrostachyum Sarcophrynium oxycarpum Sarcophrynium spicatum Phrynium benthamii Phrynium macrophyllum Sarcophrynium arnoldianum Sarcophrynium macrophyllum Megaphrynium macrostachyum Phrynium adenocarpum Phrynium macrostachyum Phyllodes macrophylla Phyllodes macrostachya