Montinia caryophyllacea Thunb.

Species

Angiosperms > Solanales > Montiniaceae > Montinia

Characteristics

Dioecious, erect, glaucous shrub, up to 1.5 m high. Leaves alternate, simple, entire, penninerved, shortly petiolate, ± glabrous, coriaceous, elliptic or oblanceolate; stipules 0. Male flowers in terminal corymbs; calyx tube expanded, shortly 4-lobed; petals 4, free, fleshy, rounded, white; stamens 4, disc basin-shaped, large, yellow-green. Female flowers solitary or in groups of 2(3); calyx tube fusiform, adnate to ovary, shortly 4-toothed; petals as in male; disc epigynous; ovary inferior, 2-carpellate, ellipsoid; style 2-branched, stigmas horseshoe-shaped. Flowering time May-Oct. Fruit a 1-locular, subwoody, ellipsoid capsule, crowned by persistent calyx lobes, disc and style, opening by 2 valves. Seeds flat, winged.
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Female flowers solitary or in groups of 2(3), erect; calyx-tube c. 7 mm. long, fusiform; calyx-lobes, petals and disk as in the male; staminodes fleshy, very short; placentas 2, axile, elliptic, compressed and fused with the septum which in fruit becomes free from the walls of the capsule, hanging from its top; each placenta with up to 12 ovules in 2 longitudinal series; styles c. I mm. long, thick, 2-branched from the middle, each branch with a broad, subreniform stigma c. 1 mm. wide.
Male flowers ± numerous in corymbs 4–7 cm. long, erect; pedicels up to 1 cm. long, bracteate; bracts subulate; calyx-tube expanded, c. 3 mm. in diameter with (?3)4(?5) triangular, very short, calyx-lobes; petals (?3)4(?5), 3–5 mm. long, broadly ovate, with a broad crescent-shaped base, white; disk flat, subcircular, c. 2–5 mm. in diameter; stamens (?3)4(?5), with anthers broadly oblong c. 1·2 mm. long and filaments c. 1·5 mm. long.
Leaves entire, 1·5–7·0 x (0·5)1–2·5 cm., linear to ovate or elliptic, apex obtuse, base cuneate narrowing into a petiole up to 1 cm. long which is dilated at the very base into an accrescent cushion which persists long after the fall of the leaf, becoming ivory-coloured.
Dioecious, erect shrub, up to 1.5 m tall. Leaves oblanceolate, sometimes tufted, pale green to glaucous. Flowers terminal, small, with 4 white waxy petals, male cymose, female 1 or 2. Capsule spindle-shaped, ± woody, splitting in half lengthwise.
Seeds compressed, c. 10 x 8 mm. including the ± elliptic, broad papery wing which is auriculate at the attachment point; seeds disposed on each placenta along 2 rows like the tiles of a roof.
Capsule 1·5–2·0 xl cm., ellipsoid, smooth, crowned by the persistent calyx-lobes, disk and style, loculicidally dehiscent from the apex; 2-valved, the valves cartilagineous.
Dioecious, erect glaucous shrub to 1.5 m. Leaves oblanceolate, sometimes tufted. Flowers terminal, white, male cymose, female 1 or 2.
A twiggy shrub, 1–2(?4) m. high, almost glabrous (except for the leaf-axils and the base of the midribs).
Inflorescences terminal or subterminal.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 1.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 7-8
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses animal food environmental use material medicinal social use
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Montinia caryophyllacea unspecified picture

Distribution

Montinia caryophyllacea world distribution map, present in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa

Conservation status

Montinia caryophyllacea threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:613483-1
WFO ID wfo-0000447853
COL ID 44B9W
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Montinia caryophyllacea Montinia acris Montinia fruticosa