Polyspatha oligospatha
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Polyspatha oligospatha is a species of plant from the genus Polyspatha withinthe Commelina family (Commelinaceae). It is common in tropical Africa.
description
Vegetative characteristics
Polyspatha oligospatha grows as a stolon-forming , perennial herbaceous plant with upright stems of 5 to 30 centimeters in height. The internodes are finely covered with hook-like, rarely also with short, single-row hair.
The tufted leaves are at the end of the flower-bearing stems. The leaf sheath becomes 0.8 to 1.5 centimeters long and is finely covered with hook-like hairs, rarely with short, single-row hairs. The tip of the leaf sheath is ciliate with hairs up to 3 millimeters long. With a length of 3 to 11 centimeters and a width of 2 to 4.5 centimeters, the stalked leaf blade is elliptical, broad-elliptical and ovoid to rounded-ovoid, rarely elongated ovoid. The tip of the leaf is pointed or spiky while the base of the leaf is wedge-shaped to broadly wedge-shaped. The rough edges of the leaf blade are flat to slightly wavy. The upper side of the leaves is covered with long, scattered, upright and single-row hairs and the underside of the leaves is downy with hook-like hairs.
Inflorescences and flowers
So far, 24 flowering plants have been collected throughout the year, with the exception of April and May. The flowers open in the morning and wither by the afternoon.
The terminal inflorescence is a simple or compound thyrsus which is between 2 and 7 centimeters long and up to 7.5 centimeters wide. The compound thyrsus consists of up to four small, upright or protruding, simple thyrses. These smaller thyrses are either axillary or terminal, with the axillary none of the leaf sheaths piercing. Each of these simple thyrses consists of a short stem and an elongated, zigzag-shaped axis, which is covered with downy, hook-shaped hair and has four to eight two-line spathe . The spathe are 6.5 to 12 millimeters long and 3 to 9 millimeters wide and are initially upright, but become protruding over time and, less often, bend back to the axis of the thyrsus. The individual spathe are at a distance of 0.3 to 1.1 centimeters from one another and usually do not overlap one another. Their tip is pointed or rounded, sometimes also spiky, while the leaf edges are finely covered with hairs up to 1.5 millimeters long. The surface of the spathe has downy hairs with hook-like hairs and is shiny brown or brownish in color at the time of flowering, at least the central rib of the leaf then has a brown color. A noticeable leaf vein is usually not formed. The wrap has two to three flowers and the egg-shaped bracts are covered with a few short hairs on the leaf edges. The 1 to 2.5 millimeter long peduncle is smooth or sparsely hairy.
The hermaphrodite flowers are 3.5 to 8 millimeters in size. The free sepals are 3 to 4.5 millimeters long and 1 to 2.3 millimeters wide and lanceolate-oblong to egg-shaped. They are downy with short, hook-like hairs that are white to translucent white. The petals are colored white. The upper petals are nailed and are 5 to 7 millimeters long and 2.5 to 3 millimeters wide, with the nail 3.5 to 5 millimeters long and the egg-shaped plate 2 to 3 millimeters long and 2.5 to 3 millimeters wide. The lower petals are linear to oblong with a length of 2 to 4.7 millimeters and a width of 0.2 to 1 millimeter. The smooth, white stamens of the stamens and staminodes are fused together at the base. Each staminodium has three identical stamens 3 to 6 millimeters long. The infertile , yellow stamens have a V-shaped cross-section and are lanceolate in shape with a length of 0.6 to 0.8 millimeters. The fertile stamens have three stamens 4.5 to 8.5 millimeters long, with the middle one being slightly shorter than the outer one. The 1 to 1.7 millimeter long anthers are egg-shaped-elliptical to elliptical in shape and have a yellow color. After they have burst open, they are bent outwards and release the yellow pollen . The sessile, approximately egg-shaped ovary is dorsiventral flattened and are about 1 millimeter long and as thick. The white stylus is 5.5 to 8.5 millimeters long and protrudes over the stamens. The white scar is culled.
Fruits and seeds
The two-chamber capsule fruit is broad-elliptical with a length and width of 2.5 and 3 millimeters. The capsule fruits can be narrowed between the seeds and turn light brown in color when ripe. Each capsule fruit contains two seeds. The seeds are elliptical in outline with a length of 1.6 to 2.5 millimeters and a thickness of 1.3 to 1.6 millimeters. The light brown seed coat has 17 to 23 conspicuous, more or less gnarled ribs. The seeds have a straight to slightly curved hilum , which is about half to two-thirds the length of the seed, and a semidorsal embryo .
Chromosome number
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 28.
Occurrence
The natural range of Polyspatha oligospatha is in tropical Africa . It extends there from the Ivory Coast in the west via Cameroon , the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Uganda and Sudan in the east.
Polyspatha oligospatha thrives at altitudes of 15 to 1220 meters. It grows mainly in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, forest relics and other damp and shady locations in savannas and plantations .
Systematics
It was first described as Polyspatha oligospatha in 2011 by Robert Bruce Faden in PhytoKeys , number 3, page 10. The generic name Polyspatha means "many Spatha " and the specific epithet oligospatha means "few Spatha".
It differs from the other two species of the genus Polyspatha in its seed coat, the hairiness of the leaves, the appearance of the spathe and its flowering behavior.
swell
- Robert B. Faden: A third species of Polyspatha, an Africanendemic genus of Commelinaceae . In: PhytoKeys . No. 3 , 2011, ISSN 1314-2003 , p. 9-20 , doi : 10.3897 / phytokeys.3.1181 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Robert B. Faden: A third species of Polyspatha, an Africanendemic genus of Commelinaceae . In: PhytoKeys . No. 3 , 2011, ISSN 1314-2003 , p. 9-20 , doi : 10.3897 / phytokeys.3.1181 .
- ^ Polyspatha oligospatha. In: The International Plant Names Index. www.ipni.org, accessed February 1, 2015 (English).
