WorldFloraDB - Omphacomeria acerba

Characteristics

A wiry shrub. It grows 0.3-1 m high and spreads 1-3 m wide. It has suckers and forms thickets. The small branches are erect and green. They are rounded and with a groove. There are fine lines along them. The leaves are reduced to very small scales. The male flowers are 0.3 cm across and white. Up to 7 flowers occur in a short spike in the axils of leaves. The female flowers are about 0.2 cm across. They occur singly. The fruit is fleshy and 0.6-0.8 cm long. They are purplish.

More

Glabrous shrub to 1 m often forming clones. Branchlets erect, terete, finely striate. Leaves minute, scale-like, the bases persisting as scars. Male flowers up to 7 in spikes 3-4 mm long; flowers c. 3 mm diam.; tepals cordate, obtuse, 0.7 mm long, slightly thickened at apex; stamens c. 0.2 mm long; style obsolete. Female flowers: receptacle 0.7 mm long; tepals triangular, 0.7 mm long; stigma bilobed. Drupe ellipsoidal, 6-7 mm long; tepals persistent.

Life form

perennial

Growth form

shrub

Growth support

-

Foliage retention

evergreen

Sexuality

dioecy

Pollination

-

Spread

-

Mature width (meter)

1.0 - 3.0

Mature height (meter)

0.3 - 1.0

Root system

-

Rooting depth (meter)

-

Root diameter (meter)

-

Flower color

-

Blooming months

Jan	Feb	Mar
Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep
Oct	Nov	Dec

Fruit color

-

Fruiting months

-

Nitrogen fixer

-

Photosynthetic pathway

-

Environment

Grows in upland forests, often in rocky soil.

Light	-
Soil humidity	-
Soil texture	-
Soil acidity	-
Soil nutriment	-
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

The fruit is eaten. It is sour. It is made into jams and jellies.

Uses	-
Edible	fruits
Therapeutic use	-
Human toxicity	-
Animal toxicity	-

Cultivation

It is a root parasite. It spreads by suckers. Plants are grown by seed. They are hard to grow.

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

Distribution

Identifiers

LSID	urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:780485-1
WFO ID	wfo-0001035686
COL ID	6SM6L
BDTFX ID	-
INPN ID	-
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Leptomeria acerba Omphacomeria acerba

WorldFloraDB 2024

Omphacomeria acerba A.Dc.

Species