Strophanthus courmontii Sacleux ex Franch.

Species

Angiosperms > Gentianales > Apocynaceae > Strophanthus

Characteristics

Liana, 5–22 m long, or less often a sarmentose shrub 0.6–4 m high, deciduous, with the flowers appearing after the leaves; trunk to 10 cm in diameter, with corky ridges to 1.8 cm high and 5 cm long; branches with compressed corky triangles at the nodes; branchlets glabrous; latex white.. Leaves opposite; blade elliptic or ovate to obovate, 2–14 cm long, 2.5–6.5 cm wide, base rounded or cuneate, apex mucronate or acuminate, glabrous; petiole 3–11 mm long.. Inflorescence sessile or pedunculate, 1–3-flowered, glabrous or sparsely puberulous in all parts; pedicels 1–7.5 mm long.. Flowers fragrant; sepals ovate, 3–10 mm long, acute or apiculate; corolla tube white and red, 22–43 mm long, corolla lobes ovate, 20–57 mm long, 10–27 mm wide, acuminate, corona lobes 2–6 mm long.. Fruit grey-or purplish black, mericarps ± opposite-divergent, narrowly ellipsoid, 12–26 cm long, 3–4.5 cm in diameter, apex obtuse, glabrous; seed 10–15 mm long, densely pubescent, with a stalked coma 5–12 cm long.
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Corolla tube white and red, purple-streaked, (22)25–43 mm. long, widening at 1/7-1/3 (2/5) of its length into a cyathiform upper part, at the mouth 17–35 mm. wide, glabrous or less often puberulous outside, puberulous inside; corona lobes 2–6 x 1·2–3·2 mm., puberulous; corolla lobes ovate and gradually narrowing into the acute apex (20)25–57 x 10–27 mm., glabrous or less often puberulous on both sides, but always puberulous inside at the base.
Leaves petiolate; petiole 3–11 mm. long, lamina dark green above, much paler beneath, elliptic, ovate, or rarely obovate, 1–3·1 times as long as wide, 2·5–13·5 x 2·5–6·5 cm., rounded or cuneate at the base, mucronate or acuninate at the apex (acumen up to 10 mm. long) papyraceous or thinly coriaceous, glabrous on both sides, 3–7(8) pairs of secondary veins forming an angle of 35-60° with the midrib; tertiary venation conspicuous beneath.
Flowers fragrant, equal or subequal, the outer sometimes shorter and wider than the inner, ovate or narrowly ovate, 2–6 times as long as wide, 3·5–10 x 1·5–3-5 mm., acute or apiculate, glabrous, ciliate, or rarely puberulous; with 2–3 colleters per sepal, colleters rarely forked.
Follicles divergent at an angle of 160–200°, tapering into a broad or narrow obtuse apex, 12–26 cm. long and 3–4·5 cm. in diameter; exocarp grey-black or purplish-black, thick and hard, glabrous, very densely lenticellate.
Trunk up to 10 cm. in diam. with corky ridges up to 5 cm. long and 1·8 cm. high; branches with corky laterally compressed protuberances at the nodes, later growing into ridges, branchlets glabrous.
Inflorescence 1–3-flowered sessile or pedunculate, glabrous or sparsely puberulous in all parts; pedicels 1–7·5 mm. long; bracts ovate or narrowly ovate, 1·5–4 x 0·8–1·2 mm., acute, not sepal-like.
Seeds with the grain 10–15 x 2·2–4 x 1 mm., densely pubescent; rostrum glabrous for 15–52 mm. and bear­ing a coma for 17–35 mm.; coma 36–70 mm. long.
Liana, 5–22 m. high, or less often a sarmentose shrub, 0·60–4 m. high, deciduous with the flowers appearing after the leaves; latex white.
Stamens included for 5–16 mm.; filaments straight, 3·5–6 mm. long; anthers 6·5–9 x (1·3) 1·6–2·2 mm., glabrous; acumen 0·8–2 mm. long.
Ovary 1·3–2·2 x 2–3·8 mm., glabrous; style 8·8–15·5 mm. long; clavuncula 2·2–3 x 1·9–3 mm., stigma minute.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support climber
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 2.8 - 9.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Gallery forest or riverine thickets, less often in forest away from rivers, at elevations from sea-level up to 1,400 metres.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses material medicinal poison wood
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 -

Images

Strophanthus courmontii unspecified picture

Distribution

Strophanthus courmontii world distribution map, present in Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, United Republic of, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:81871-1
WFO ID wfo-0000317255
COL ID 6ZYQ3
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Strophanthus courmontii