Pavetta zeyheri Sond.

Species

Angiosperms > Gentianales > Rubiaceae > Pavetta

Characteristics

A shrub or small tree with stiff erect branches, up to 3 m in height; occurring in bushveld, on stony hillsides and rocky ridges. Bark: grey, rough; branches stiff, erect, smooth. Leaves: crowded at the ends of the branches, but not fascicled, narrowly oblanceolate, 1.5-5 x 0.5-1.5 cm, leathery, dark green to bluish green, hairless, about 4 pairs of lateral veins, bacterial nodules more or less dot-shaped, few to abundant, scattered, domatia absent; apex tapering to rounded; base narrowly tapering and running down the petiole; petiole almost obscured by the decurrent leaf base. Flowers: white, calyx lobes deltoid, with sharp tips, corolla tube 5-12 mm long, lobes 7 mm long, style 1.5-2 cm long, axillary in dense branched heads on inflorescence-supporting branches up to 3.5 cm long, usually leafless; faintly scented Fruit: round, 7-9 mm in diameter, black, crowned with the small spike-like remains of the calyx lobes.
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Leaves clustered on short slender lateral branches, very occasionally on cushion shoots or spaced along young twigs, sessile; blades 2–4.5 × 0.4–0.9 cm, oblanceolate or linear-lanceolate, rounded or obtuse at the apex, very narrowly cuneate at the base; lateral nerves in c. 3 faint main pairs; domatia absent; bacterial nodules few to abundant, dot-like or more often elliptical, scattered; stipules on young twigs 1.5–2 mm long, truncate-triangular, acuminate-apiculate.
An evergreen shrub or tree. It is broadleaved and loses its leaves during the year. It has a taproot. The leaves are simple and in successive pairs at right angles to each other. They are clustered on small shoots on old branches. The leaves are narrowly oval and 1 cm wide. The flowers have a scent. It can grow to 3 m high. The flowers are white and tube shaped. The fruit is round and 7-9 mm across. It turns black when ripe.
Small tree or shrub, 2-3 m high. Leaves narrowly oblanceolate, apex rounded to obtuse, glabrous to pubescent, sessile, bacterial nodules dot-shaped and scattered. Calyx lobes triangular, 0.5-1.0 mm long. Corolla tube up to 10 mm long. Flowers white.
Inflorescences subumbellate, 0.7–3.2 cm wide (excluding corollas); primary inflorescence branches mostly apparent, 1–3(6) mm long; pedicels 3–10 mm long; bracts 1.5–2 mm long, lacking dense silky hairs inside; bracteoles present but inconspicuous.
Corolla white or sometimes said to be yellow, glabrous outside; tube 5–11 mm long, c. 1 mm wide at the top; not bearded at the throat; lobes 5–8 × 1.6–3 mm, oblong ovate or sometimes narrowly so, obtuse to acuminate.
Glabrous shrub or small tree 1–3.1 m tall; young twigs slender, covered with fawn or light grey bark; older branches covered with mid to dark grey or occasionally reddish-brown bark.
Calyx tube c. 1 mm long; limb-tube 0.5–0.9 mm long; lobes 0.5–1.5(2) mm long, shortly to narrowly triangular, never spreading.
Inflorescence-supporting branches 0.3–3.5 cm long, c. 1 mm wide, leafless, or sometimes bearing short lateral spurs.
Seeds 5 mm across, hemispherical with circular excavation.
Fruit black, 7–8 mm in diameter, crowned by calyx limb.
Life form -
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
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Mature height (meter) 2.0 - 3.0
Root system tap-root
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Environment

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in hot arid areas with a marked dry season. It grows in deep well-drained soils. It is often over limestone materials. It can tolerate light shade. It grows between 100-1,700 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.
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Found mainly on rocky outcrops and hillsides but also on flats, often on sandy soil.
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Soil texture 7-8
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Usage

Uses animal food food social use
Edible leaves
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.
Mode cuttings seedlings
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Distribution

Pavetta zeyheri world distribution map, present in Botswana and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:760153-1
WFO ID wfo-0000266013
COL ID 75WDR
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Pavetta zeyheri Ixora zeyheri Pavetta zeyheri var. brevituba Pavetta zeyheri var. pubescens Pavetta zeyheri var. sonderi

Lower taxons

Pavetta zeyheri subsp. zeyheri Pavetta zeyheri subsp. microlancea Pavetta zeyheri subsp. middelburgensis