Peddiea africana Harv.

Species

Angiosperms > Malvales > Thymelaeaceae > Peddiea

Characteristics

Poison-olive, green-flower tree; gifolyf (A) Tree or shrub, 3-5 m high. Leaves spirally arranged, often clustered at end of branchlets, subsessile, elliptic or lanceolate. Flowers pedicelled, in 3-9-flowered, terminal umbels. Hypanthium cylindric, 4-or 5-lobed, ribbed. Sepals ovate, spreading, shorter than tube. Petaloid floral outgrowths 0. Stamens 8-10, in 2 whorls arising from upper portion of hypanthium. Disc cup-shaped. Ovary 2-locular, glabrous, or hairy on upper part. Stigma capitate or ± saucer-shaped. Flowering time Feb.-Oct. Fruit an ovoid berry, ± the size of a pea. Seeds with papery testa.
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An erect shrub; branches glabrous, at length greyish; leaves alternate, sometimes clustered at the ends of the branches, ovate-oblong, up to 4.5 in. long and nearly 2 in. wide, obtuse, membranous; peduncle 0.5-1.5 in. long, slender, ebracteate or with a few basal bracts, 6-12-flowered; pedicels 3-6 lin. long; calyx-tube 6 lin. long, glabrous; lobes ovate, 2 lin. long, 1 lin. wide, revolute, acute; anthers 0.3 lin. long; hypogynous disc 0.5 lin. long, membranous, fimbriate; ovary ovoid, glabrous or hairy at the apex; ovules pendulous.
A shrub or small tree. It grows 6 m high. It has many branches. The bark is grey and smooth. The leaves are 50-90 mm long by 20-30 mm wide. They are narrowly oval and taper to the base. There are 5-10 flowers in a cluster. The flowers are yellowish-green. The fruit are fleshy and black. They are 10-14 mm long by 7-10 mm wide.
Small tree or shrub, 1-10 m high. Leaves alternate, sometimes clustered at ends of branches. Flowers pedicellate, in terminal umbels. Calyx forming a tube. Petals absent. Flowers emerald-green to yellow.
Leaves petiolate or subsessile; lamina (25)50–90(125) × (10)20–30(50) mm, elliptic, lanceolate to oblanceolate, gradually tapering to base, acute to obtuse at apex, coriaceous, deep green.
Calyx tube 10–15(20) mm long, abrupt or rounded at base, strongly ribbed especially towards the base, glabrous; lobes 2.5–4 × 1.5–2 mm, ovate, sometimes ciliate at apex, revolute.
Flowers light green or greenish-yellow, sometimes tinged with brown; pedicel 3–12(16) mm long, glabrous.
Ovary glabrous, 2–3 mm long; disk c. 1 mm long, glabrous; style c. 2 mm long.
Inflorescence (3)5–10(20)-flowered; peduncle (5)10–40(50) mm long.
Fruit 10–14 × 7–10 mm, reddish or black, glabrous.
Much branched shrub or tree to 7(10) m in height.
Stamens included; anthers c. 1 mm long.
Bark grey to brown, smooth.
Life form annual
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 3.0 - 6.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a tropical plant. It grows in mid altitude and mountain rainforest. It suits humid locations. It also grows in coastal scrub and along rivers. It can grow from sea level to 2,000 m altitude.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 5-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The fruit is eaten as a snack.
Uses material medicinal
Edible fruits leaves
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 -

Distribution

Peddiea africana world distribution map, present in Angola, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, eSwatini, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Peddiea africana threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:832423-1
WFO ID wfo-0000475736
COL ID 6TWRS
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Peddiea africana Peddiea dregei Psilosolena umbellata Cyathodiscus umbellatus