Euclea crispa: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
refs |
descr, refs |
||
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
* ''Euclea lanceolata'' <small>E.Mey. ex A.DC</small><ref name=tpl>{{cite web|title=''Euclea crispa'' (Thunb.) Gürke|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-2802651|work=The Plant List 2010|accessdate=15 November 2013}}</ref> |
* ''Euclea lanceolata'' <small>E.Mey. ex A.DC</small><ref name=tpl>{{cite web|title=''Euclea crispa'' (Thunb.) Gürke|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-2802651|work=The Plant List 2010|accessdate=15 November 2013}}</ref> |
||
|}} |
|}} |
||
'''''Euclea crispa''''' ('''Blue guarri''') is a southern African species in the [[Ebenaceae]] family, one of 35 in this family that occur in South Africa.<ref name=plantz/> The hardy and evergreen species may form a dense stand of shrubs, or grow to tree size. It is widespread and common in the interior regions of southern Africa,<ref name = palmer>{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Eve |authorlink=Eve Palmer |title=A Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa |pages = 283-284 | year=1977 |publisher=Collins |location=London, Johannesburg |isbn=0-620-05468-9}}</ref> where it occurs from middle to high altitudes.<ref name=fzim/> It is readily recognizable from its much-branched structure and dull bluish foliage colour. Those bearing lanceolate leaves may however resemble the [[Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata|Wild olive]],<ref name = palmer/> another common species of the interior plateaus. |
'''''Euclea crispa''''' ('''Blue guarri''') is a southern African species in the [[Ebenaceae]] family, one of 35 in this family that occur in South Africa.<ref name=plantz/> The hardy and evergreen species may form a dense stand of shrubs,<ref name=kcp/> or grow to tree size. It is widespread and common in the interior regions of southern Africa,<ref name = palmer>{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Eve |authorlink=Eve Palmer |title=A Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa |pages = 283-284 | year=1977 |publisher=Collins |location=London, Johannesburg |isbn=0-620-05468-9}}</ref> where it occurs from middle to high altitudes.<ref name=fzim/> It is readily recognizable from its much-branched structure and dull bluish foliage colour. Those bearing lanceolate leaves may however resemble the [[Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata|Wild olive]],<ref name = palmer/> another common species of the interior plateaus. |
||
==Range and habitat== |
==Range and habitat== |
||
It occurs in central [[South Africa]] and the [[Zimbabwe]]an plateau and [[Eastern Highlands]].<ref name = palmer>{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Eve |authorlink=Eve Palmer |title=A Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa |pages = 283-284 | year=1977 |publisher=Collins |location=London, Johannesburg |isbn=0-620-05468-9}}</ref> It is found in open or thick bush along stream banks,<ref name=wits/> woodland, kloofs, hillsides, open forest, along forest margins and regularly in rocky places.<ref name = palmer/><ref name=fzim>{{cite web|last=Hyde|first=Mark et al |title=Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Sond. ex Gürke subsp. crispa |url=http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=143850 |work=Flora of Zimbabwe |accessdate=18 November 2013}}</ref> It is rare in the lowveld where it is limited to rocky areas of higher rainfall. |
It occurs in central [[South Africa]] and the [[Zimbabwe]]an plateau and [[Eastern Highlands]].<ref name = palmer>{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Eve |authorlink=Eve Palmer |title=A Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa |pages = 283-284 | year=1977 |publisher=Collins |location=London, Johannesburg |isbn=0-620-05468-9}}</ref> It is found in open or thick bush along stream banks,<ref name=wits/> woodland, kloofs, hillsides, open forest, along forest margins and regularly in rocky places.<ref name = palmer/><ref name=fzim>{{cite web|last=Hyde|first=Mark et al |title=Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Sond. ex Gürke subsp. crispa |url=http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=143850 |work=Flora of Zimbabwe |accessdate=18 November 2013}}</ref> It is rare in the lowveld where it is limited to rocky areas, or areas of higher rainfall.<ref name=piet>{{cite book|last=Van Wyk |first=Piet |title=Field Guide to the Trees of the Kruger National Park |year=1984 |publisher=C. Struik |location=Cape Town |isbn=0-86977-221-X |page=224}}</ref> |
||
==Habit== |
==Habit== |
||
It is a rounded, dense and bushy shrub or tree,<ref name=wits>{{cite book|last=Tree Society of Southern Africa|title=Trees and Shrubs of the Witwatersrand|year=1974|publisher=Witwatersrand University Press|location=Johannesburg|isbn=0-85494-236-X|pages=124-135}}</ref> reaching a height of |
It is a rounded, dense and bushy shrub or tree,<ref name=wits>{{cite book|last=Tree Society of Southern Africa|title=Trees and Shrubs of the Witwatersrand|year=1974|publisher=Witwatersrand University Press|location=Johannesburg|isbn=0-85494-236-X|pages=124-135}}</ref> reaching a height of 2 to 6 meters<ref name=wits/> (rarely 8 to 9 meters)<ref name=kcp/><ref name = palmer/>, with a spreading, often symmetrical crown. It is slow-growing like its congeners, and becomes frost and drought resistant with age.<ref name=plantz>{{cite web |last=Stoll |first=Nicolette |title=Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Gürke subsp. crispa |url=http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantefg/eucleacrispacrispa.htm |work= |date=Aug 2010 |publisher=Kirstenbosch Gardens |publisher=plantzafrica.org |accessdate=15 November 2013}}</ref> In Zimbabwe it is a shrub of 1 to 2m tall,<ref name=kcp>{{cite book |last=Palgrave |first=Keith Coates |title=Trees of Southern Africa |year=1984 |publisher=Struik |location=Cape Town |isbn=0-86977-081-0 |pages=736-737}}</ref> forming small, dense colonies, or a small tree.<ref name=fzim/> |
||
==Description== |
==Description== |
||
===Bole and bark=== |
===Bole and bark=== |
||
The bole is single or multi-stemmed and up to 30cm in diameter.<ref name = palmer/> The wood is dark and hard. The bark varies from grey<ref name=wits/> to brown or blackish,<ref name=palmer/> and is smooth in young trees, but |
The bole is single or multi-stemmed and up to 30cm in diameter.<ref name = palmer/> The wood is dark and hard. The bark varies from grey<ref name=wits/> to brown or blackish,<ref name=palmer/> and is smooth in young trees, but rougher in older trees.<ref name=kcp/> The bark is used as a [[Laxative|purgative]]. |
||
===Foliage=== |
===Foliage=== |
||
The plants carry a dense canopy of leaves of a dull grey-green colour and a rigid, leathery lineament.<ref name = palmer/> |
The plants carry a dense canopy of simple leaves of a dull grey-green colour and a rigid, leathery lineament.<ref name = palmer/> Variation in terms of colour, shape, texture and arrangement is however considerable.<ref name = palmer/> Foliage colour varies from a greyish green to distinctly blue, and leaf shape varies from lanceolate to obovate.<ref name = palmer/> New branches and foliage are covered in rust-brown scales,<ref name=kcp/> while mature leaves may be hairy or glabrous.<ref name=piet/> Leaves may be opposite, sub-opposite or rarely alternate.<ref name=kcp/> The slender petiole is 1.5 to 2 mm long.<ref name=kcp/> The leaf veins are transparent against light, unlike the opaque venation of Wild olive trees.<ref name = palmer/><ref name=wits/> Leaves may also resemble those of the [[Euclea natalensis|Natal guarri]], a species of generally lower altitudes. The leaves measure up to 5 x 1.5 cm.<ref name=piet/> |
||
===Flowers=== |
===Flowers=== |
||
They flower in summer, from October to February.<ref name=fzim/> The small, waxy, pendulous flowers are greenish-white and borne in axillary racemes |
They flower in summer, from October to February.<ref name=fzim/> The very small, waxy, pendulous flowers are yellow<ref name=piet/> to greenish-white and borne in axillary pseudo-racemes,<ref name = palmer/><ref name=piet/> holding 3 to 10 flowers each.<ref name=kcp/> The ovaries are densely covered in bristles.<ref name=kcp/> |
||
===Fruit=== |
===Fruit=== |
||
The pea-sized berries (4-5mm in diameter) are considered edible when ripe.<ref name=wits/> They are borne on female trees only, and turn from green to reddish brown, and eventually to black |
The roundish, pea-sized berries (4-5mm in diameter)<ref name=piet/> are considered edible when ripe.<ref name=wits/> They are borne on female trees only, and turn from green to reddish brown, and eventually to black as they ripen.<ref name=wits/><ref name=fzim/><ref name=kcp/> The fruit are also used as a purgative.<ref name=palmer/> Fruit are somewhat or very hairy when green,<ref name=kcp> but more or less glabrous when mature.<ref name=piet/> |
||
==Varieties== |
==Varieties== |
||
* var. ''crispa'' – very widely distributed |
* var. ''crispa'' – very widely distributed |
||
: – leaves hardly wavy, with rounded apex, or acute apex with rounded tip |
: – leaves hardly wavy, with rounded apex, or acute apex with rounded tip, margins entire |
||
* var. ''ovata'' – Karoo regions to [[Kuruman]] and southern Free State |
* var. ''ovata'' – Karoo regions to [[Kuruman]] and southern Free State |
||
: – leaves wavy and sometimes minutely scalloped<ref name = palmer/> |
: – leaves wavy and sometimes minutely scalloped<ref name = palmer/> |
||
| Line 53: | Line 53: | ||
|File:Euclea crispa, habitus, Nkwe.jpg|alt3=|<center>a female tree</center> |
|File:Euclea crispa, habitus, Nkwe.jpg|alt3=|<center>a female tree</center> |
||
}} |
}} |
||
==References== |
==References== |
||
Revision as of 10:01, 19 November 2013
| Euclea crispa | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | E. crispa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Gürke
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Euclea crispa (Blue guarri) is a southern African species in the Ebenaceae family, one of 35 in this family that occur in South Africa.[2] The hardy and evergreen species may form a dense stand of shrubs,[3] or grow to tree size. It is widespread and common in the interior regions of southern Africa,[4] where it occurs from middle to high altitudes.[5] It is readily recognizable from its much-branched structure and dull bluish foliage colour. Those bearing lanceolate leaves may however resemble the Wild olive,[4] another common species of the interior plateaus.
Range and habitat
It occurs in central South Africa and the Zimbabwean plateau and Eastern Highlands.[4] It is found in open or thick bush along stream banks,[6] woodland, kloofs, hillsides, open forest, along forest margins and regularly in rocky places.[4][5] It is rare in the lowveld where it is limited to rocky areas, or areas of higher rainfall.[7]
Habit
It is a rounded, dense and bushy shrub or tree,[6] reaching a height of 2 to 6 meters[6] (rarely 8 to 9 meters)[3][4], with a spreading, often symmetrical crown. It is slow-growing like its congeners, and becomes frost and drought resistant with age.[2] In Zimbabwe it is a shrub of 1 to 2m tall,[3] forming small, dense colonies, or a small tree.[5]
Description
Bole and bark
The bole is single or multi-stemmed and up to 30cm in diameter.[4] The wood is dark and hard. The bark varies from grey[6] to brown or blackish,[4] and is smooth in young trees, but rougher in older trees.[3] The bark is used as a purgative.
Foliage
The plants carry a dense canopy of simple leaves of a dull grey-green colour and a rigid, leathery lineament.[4] Variation in terms of colour, shape, texture and arrangement is however considerable.[4] Foliage colour varies from a greyish green to distinctly blue, and leaf shape varies from lanceolate to obovate.[4] New branches and foliage are covered in rust-brown scales,[3] while mature leaves may be hairy or glabrous.[7] Leaves may be opposite, sub-opposite or rarely alternate.[3] The slender petiole is 1.5 to 2 mm long.[3] The leaf veins are transparent against light, unlike the opaque venation of Wild olive trees.[4][6] Leaves may also resemble those of the Natal guarri, a species of generally lower altitudes. The leaves measure up to 5 x 1.5 cm.[7]
Flowers
They flower in summer, from October to February.[5] The very small, waxy, pendulous flowers are yellow[7] to greenish-white and borne in axillary pseudo-racemes,[4][7] holding 3 to 10 flowers each.[3] The ovaries are densely covered in bristles.[3]
Fruit
The roundish, pea-sized berries (4-5mm in diameter)[7] are considered edible when ripe.[6] They are borne on female trees only, and turn from green to reddish brown, and eventually to black as they ripen.[6][5][3] The fruit are also used as a purgative.[4] Fruit are somewhat or very hairy when green,<ref name=kcp> but more or less glabrous when mature.[7]
Varieties
- var. crispa – very widely distributed
- – leaves hardly wavy, with rounded apex, or acute apex with rounded tip, margins entire
- var. ovata – Karoo regions to Kuruman and southern Free State
- – leaves wavy and sometimes minutely scalloped[4]
-
foliage and bell-like flowers -
green berries on female tree -
a female tree
References
- ^ "Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Gürke". The Plant List 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
- ^ a b Stoll, Nicolette (Aug 2010). "Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Gürke subsp. crispa". plantzafrica.org. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Palgrave, Keith Coates (1984). Trees of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik. pp. 736–737. ISBN 0-86977-081-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Palmer, Eve (1977). A Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa. London, Johannesburg: Collins. pp. 283–284. ISBN 0-620-05468-9.
- ^ a b c d e Hyde, Mark; et al. "Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Sond. ex Gürke subsp. crispa". Flora of Zimbabwe. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
{{cite web}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|first=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g Tree Society of Southern Africa (1974). Trees and Shrubs of the Witwatersrand. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. pp. 124–135. ISBN 0-85494-236-X.
- ^ a b c d e f g Van Wyk, Piet (1984). Field Guide to the Trees of the Kruger National Park. Cape Town: C. Struik. p. 224. ISBN 0-86977-221-X.
 | This Ericales article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |