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This species is accepted, and its native range is S. Tropical & S. Africa.

[FZ]

Euphorbiaceae, A. Radcliffe-Smith. Flora Zambesiaca 9:4. 1996

Habit
A shrub or small tree up to 9 m in height, branching close to the ground.
Bark
Bark thick, rough, striated, flaky, dark brownish-grey.
Twigs
Twigs, young shoots and petioles evenly to densely fulvous-tomentose.
Petiole
Petioles 3–5 mm long.
Stipules
Stipules 5–10 × 2–4 mm, falcate-lanceolate, acutely acuminate, densely pubescent, subpersistent.
Leaf lamina
Leaf blades 3–15 × 2–9 cm, broadly elliptic to suborbicular-obovate, obtuse to emarginate, rarely subacute, rounded to shallowly cordulate at the base, firmly chartaceous, softly and usually densely pubescent or almost tomentose above and beneath, light green; lateral nerves in 10–15(20) pairs, closely parallel, arcuate, sometimes reaching the margin or looping, occasionally branched, not prominent above, slightly so beneath, tertiary nerves parallel.
Male
Male flowers: pedicels 1.5–2 mm, apically dilated, minutely puberulous; sepals 2.5 × 1.3 mm, elliptic-lanceolate, acute, pubescent without, glabrous within, pale green or yellowish-green; petals 2 × 1.2 mm, obovate, slightly erose at apex, glabrous, yellowish; disk 2.5 mm in diameter, annular, flat; staminal column 1.5 mm high, free part of filaments 0.5 mm long, tapering to apex; anthers 0.8 mm long, glabrous; pistillode (non-functional ovary) 1 mm high, conical, verruculose.
Flowers
Female flowers subsessile; sepals 2.5–3 × 1.5 mm, triangular-lanceolate, otherwise as in the male; petals 2 × 0.75 mm, oblong-lanceolate, subentire; outer disk 2 mm in diameter, glabrous; inner disk c. 2 mm high, conical, tunicate, apically lacerate; ovary 1 mm in diameter, glabrous; styles 1.5 mm long. Male flowers: pedicels 1.5–2 mm, apically dilated, minutely puberulous; sepals 2.5 × 1.3 mm, elliptic-lanceolate, acute, pubescent without, glabrous within, pale green or yellowish-green; petals 2 × 1.2 mm, obovate, slightly erose at apex, glabrous, yellowish; disk 2.5 mm in diameter, annular, flat; staminal column 1.5 mm high, free part of filaments 0.5 mm long, tapering to apex; anthers 0.8 mm long, glabrous; pistillode (non-functional ovary) 1 mm high, conical, verruculose.
Female
Female flowers subsessile; sepals 2.5–3 × 1.5 mm, triangular-lanceolate, otherwise as in the male; petals 2 × 0.75 mm, oblong-lanceolate, subentire; outer disk 2 mm in diameter, glabrous; inner disk c. 2 mm high, conical, tunicate, apically lacerate; ovary 1 mm in diameter, glabrous; styles 1.5 mm long.
Fruits
Fruits 0.9–1.1 × 0.7–1 cm when dried, ellipsoid-subglobose, 2-celled, dark brown, black or blue-black when mature, exuding a gummy resin.
Seeds
Seeds c. 7 × 5 × 3 mm, plano-convex, smooth, shiny, chestnut-brown.

Native to:

Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Bridelia mollis Hutch. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Kirk, J. [s.n.], Mozambique K000406095
Miller, O.B. [267], Botswana K000489072
Miller, O.B. [870], Botswana K000489073
Pole-Evans, I.B. [s.n.], Botswana K000489071
Menyhart [858], Mozambique K000406096
de Beer, J.S. [81502], Botswana K000489074

First published in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1912: 100 (1912)

Accepted by

  • Calane da Silva, M., Izdine, S. & Amuse, A.B. (2004). A Preliminary Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Mozambique: 1-184. SABONET, Pretoria.
  • Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Govaerts, R. (1996). World Checklist of Seed Plants 2(1, 2): 1-492. MIM, Deurne.

Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
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Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0