Melhania burchellii Dc.

Species

Angiosperms > Malvales > Malvaceae > Melhania

Characteristics

Plant subherbaceous, from a woody rootstock, low, up to about 90 cm tall, branches many, erect ascending new growth densely stellate tomentose with long and short hairs, hairs sometimes foxy. Stipules subulate 3-10 mm long, tomentose but soon drying, curving and deciduous. Leaves elliptic-oblong (on flowering branches) narrowly oblong to linear oblong (on shoots), blade 3-10 cm long, 0.4-2 cm broad, shallowly to fairly distinctly toothed in the upper half stellate-tomentose on both surfaces, with short and long greyish hairs; petiole 3-17 mm long. Inflorescence [as “inflorescens”] axillary, 2-several-flowered, sometimes reduced to 1 flower, peduncle 1-6 cm long, pedicels 0.4-1 cm long; in some single-flowered inflorescences the peduncle and pedicel are indistinguishable, in others the articulation is obvious. Epicalyx-bracts linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 7-11 mm long, up to 3 mm broad, the central usually the broadest stellate-tomentose on both surfaces with long and short hairs. Calyx with lanceolate lobes, slightly longer than the epicalyx 10-15 mm long, stellate-tomentose without, glabrous within. Petals yellow about 5 mm long, ligulate staminodes about 7 mm long, staminal tube about 1.5 mm long. Style 2-4 mm long, branches about as long as the style. Ovary tomentose with short and long off-white hairs. Capsule sub-globose to oblong-ovoid, stellate-tomentose with short and long hairs, up to 12 mm long.
More
Perennial herb, up to 0.9 m high. Stems erect; greyish green stellate-pubescent. Leaves with blade narrowly oblong, 30-100 x 4-20 mm, base and apex rounded, margins shallowly toothed, main vein ending in a sharp point, upper and lower surfaces greyish tomentose. Flowers: epicalyx bracts and calyx lobes narrowly ovate; corolla with petals ± 5 mm long, yellow; Sep.-Feb.
Herb, up to 0.9 m high, much-branched. Epicalyx bracts lanceolate. Mature flower stalk as long as or longer than petiole, 10-40 mm long, 1-3-flowered. Flowers yellow.
Epicalyx bracts lanceolate-acuminate, differing from those of both M. randii and M. prostrata in being about half the length of the sepals.
Peduncles not elongated, as in both the other species, at maturity but shorter than, or only slightly exceeding, the petioles in length.
Leaf-margins usually dentate, especially towards the apex, those of M. randii and M. prostrata being usually quite entire.
Very like the two preceding species and resembling M. randii in having its leaves tomentellous on both sides.
Flowers almost twice the size of those of M. randii, the sepals being c. 1·6 cm. long.
Seeds slightly roughened or tuberculate but scarcely reticulate.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.9
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Drier types of woodland at elevations around 950-1,366 metres.
Light -
Soil humidity 1-3
Soil texture 3-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses medicinal social use
Edible -
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

Melhania burchellii world distribution map, present in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:824326-1
WFO ID wfo-0001140830
COL ID 3ZDWN
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Melhania dinteri Melhania albicans Melhania burchellii Melhania serrata