Jellyfish tree
| Jellyfish tree | ||||||||||||
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Leaves and fruits of the jellyfish tree ( Medusagyne oppositifolia ) |
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Medusagyne | ||||||||||||
| Baker | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Medusagyne oppositifolia | ||||||||||||
| Baker |
The jellyfish tree ( Medusagyne oppositifolia ) is one of the rarest plant species in the world and the only species of the monotypic genus Medusagyne . Today it belongs to the family Ochnaceae in the order of the Malpighian-like (Malpighiales).
Occurrence
The jellyfish tree only grows in the Seychelles . There it was rediscovered in 1970 after it was already considered extinct. Today there are also some specimens of the jellyfish tree in the mountain forests of Mahé , including on Mont Sébert .
description
This small, evergreen tree or shrub reaches heights of growth of up to ten meters. The opposite, short-stalked leaves are simple, leathery and the leaf edges are serrated short.
The small radial symmetry flowers are five-fold. The five petals are red or white, with the white slowly turning pink. There are 50 to 100 (many) stamens . 17 to 25 carpels are a syncarp, upper permanent ovary fused with an equal number of styluses and scars as carpels.
The opened capsule fruits look like jellyfish with their ribs. The seeds are winged.
Systematics
According to APG III the species of the former families of the Medusagynaceae Engl. & Gilg and Quiinaceae Engl. Belong to the family of the Ochnaceae s. l.
The local name for Medusagyne oppositifolia is Bwa mediz (= Bois medus ). Most recently, this plant species was run in its own family, Medusagynaceae. Today it belongs to the Ochnaceae family without classification in a subfamily or tribe. It belongs to the order of the Malpighian-like (Malpighiales).
Web links
Wikispecies: Jellyfish Tree ( Medusagyne oppositifolia ) - Species directory- Medusagyne oppositifolia inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: Matatiken, D., Huber, MJ & Ismail, S., 2007. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- The Medusagynaceae family on the AP website . (engl.)
- Description of the Medusagynaceae family at DELTA. (engl.)
- Medusagyne . In: S. Dressler, M. Schmidt, G. Zizka (Eds.): African plants - A Photo Guide. Senckenberg, Frankfurt / Main 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ APG: An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III , In: Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, pp. 105-121.