Maurocenia frangula
| Maurocenia frangula | ||||||||||||
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Maurocenia frangula |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Maurocenia | ||||||||||||
| Mill. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Maurocenia frangula | ||||||||||||
| Mill. |
Maurocenia frangula is a species of the spindle tree family, it is endemic to all of south-western South Africa . It is the only species in the genus Maurocenia .
description
Maurocenia frangula grows as an evergreen , slow-growing shrub or small tree up to 8 meters high, but usually remains smaller.
The simple, short-stalked leaves are opposite and hard-leaved . The firm, thick, leathery and bare leaves are ovate to obovate or elliptical and have entire margins. The short petiole is up to 3 millimeters long. The leaf margin is usually slightly bent. At the top they are rounded to indented or round-pointed. The young leaves are red. There are minimal, wilting Stipules present.
Maurocenia frangula is gyno , so there are individuals with purely female and those with hermaphrodite flowers. However, dioecious diocesan forms can also occur. It forms tufted or zymose and axillary, small inflorescences with a few flowers. The very small, hermaphrodite or female, stalked flowers are whitish to yellow and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The calyx is tiny, rudimentary and the egg-shaped petals are very small. There are five spreading stamens . Reduced staminodes are present in female flowers. The ovary is on top with, in the female flowers, a two-lobed stigma . In the hermaphrodite flowers, the ovary is smaller and the stigma is smaller and whole. There is a meaty discus each.
Small, light red and multi-seeded, egg-shaped to ellipsoidal berries are formed.
use
The berries are edible and were previously used by the Hottentots .
The hard wood was previously used for musical instruments.
literature
- RH Archer, AE van Wyk: A taxonomic revision of Maurocenia (Celastraceae), a Western Cape monotypic endemic. In: Bothalia. Volume 28, Number 1, 1998, doi: 10.4102 / abc.v28i1.607 , online at researchgate.net.
Web links
- Maurocenia frangula at PlantZAfrica - SANBI.