Xylotheca kraussiana Hochst.

Species

Angiosperms > Malpighiales > Achariaceae > Xylotheca

Characteristics

Tree or shrub up to 10 m tall; branchlets glabrous or pubescent. Leaf-blade elliptic to broadly elliptic or obovate, 4-12 cm long, 1.7-4 cm wide, apex acuminate, acute to rounded, base narrowly cuneate to rounded, margin entire, midrib prominent, veins 6-8 pairs, dividing near margin to form conspicuous submarginal vein, membranous to chartaceous, glabrous or pubescent; petiole 0.5-1 cm long, glabrous or pubescent. Flowers in 1-3-flowered cymes in axils of leaves or on the branches; peduncles 2-3 cm long; pedicels up to 4.5 cm long, glabrous or pubescent. Sepals 3, ovate to obovate, 1.5-1.8 cm long, 1 cm wide, deeply concave, apex rounded, green but margins white, pubescent outside. Petals white, 7-12, obovate, 2-3.5 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, narrowed at base, glabrous or sparsely woolly. Stamens numerous; filaments 6 mm long, with scattered hairs; anthers linear, 5 mm long. Ovary ellipsoid, sulcate, densely hairy; style 0.8-1.0 cm long, columnar; stigmas 4, spreading, 1 mm long. Fruit woody, ovoid or ellipsoid with 8 longitudinal ridges, beaked, splitting into 4-8 segments. Seeds numerous, reddish black, obvoid, 7 mm long, 5 mm wide, with fleshy red aril along one side.
More
A small shrub or tree up to 6 m high. The bark is light grey and rough. The crown has glossy evergreen leaves. The leaves are 2.5-10 cm long and 1.9-5 cm wide. They are oval or sword shaped. They are dark green above and paler underneath. There are 7-11 pairs of side veins which loop along the edge. The veins and midrib are slightly raised. The flowers are large and white. They occur either singly or as a few flowers together. These are in the axils of leaves or at the ends of branches. Flowers are 6 cm across. The fruit are round with a point. They are 5 cm across. They are hard and yellow or orange when ripe. They split into 4 sections showing black seeds with an orange aril.
Leaf-lamina 6–10 x 2–5 cm., elliptic, oblong-elliptic or narrowly obovate, apex obtuse or acute, base rounded or broadly cuneate, margin sometimes somewhat revolute, slightly paler below, pubescent or quite glabrous on both surfaces, lateral nerves in 7–11 pairs, slightly prominent below, looped within the margin; petiole up to c. 1 cm. long, pubescent or glabrous.
Flowers in 1–3-flowered cymes in the axils of the leaves or terminal on the branches; peduncle up to 2 cm. long, pubescent or glabrous; pedicels up to 3.5 cm. long, pubescent or glabrous, with minute, caducous, deltoid bracts at their base.
Ovary ellipsoid, densely hairy, sulcate; style up to 5 mm. long, columnar, somewhat sulcate, glabrous or somewhat hairy at the base; stigmas 4–6, spreading, up to 1 mm. long.
Fruit woody, c. 4 x 2–5 cm., ovoid or ellipsoid, with c. 8 longitudinal ridges, splitting into c. 8 longitudinal segments; style persistent as a hard point.
Stamens very numerous; filaments slender, c. 6 mm. long, glabrous or sparsely pubescent; anthers c. 6 x 1 mm., linear, glabrous, or sparsely pubescent.
Sepals usually 3, c. 1.5 x 1 cm., broadly obovate, very concave, apex rounded, margins membranous, ± densely pubescent outside.
Petals white, 7–12, up to 3.5 x 1.5 cm., oblanceolate to obovate, tapering to the base, with scattered woolly hairs.
Small shrub up to 1.6 m. tall, young branches from densely yellowish-pubescent to quite glabrous.
Seeds many, 9 x 5 mm., ellipsoid, brownish, pilose with a red sticky aril down one side.
From southern Africa, has been grown around Nairobi, e.g. Grahame Bell 3.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 5.8
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Flower color
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Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows in coastal areas on the edge of forests and in bush and scrub.
Light -
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Soil texture -
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The fruit are not eaten but are sometimes chewed and spat out. The bright red aril or layer around the seeds is eaten.
Uses medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
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Images

Xylotheca kraussiana unspecified picture

Distribution

Xylotheca kraussiana world distribution map, present in Mozambique, eSwatini, and South Africa

Conservation status

Xylotheca kraussiana threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:112183-1
WFO ID wfo-0001062866
COL ID 7G9Z6
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Xylotheca kotzei Xylotheca lasiopetala Xylotheca kraussiana var. glabrifolia Xylotheca kraussiana Oncoba kraussiana