Boswellia neglecta S.Moore

Burseraceae, J.B. Gillett. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1991

Morphology General Habit

Shrub or small tree up to 8 m. tall branching near the base from a short bole; bark dark grey, hardly peeling; young branches very straight, set at nearly 90° to the parent stem, pubescent, with longitudinal ridges and fissures.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves sparsely tomentose, 2–11 cm. long; stipules sometimes present, small, narrowly triangular, caducous; petiole 2–16 mm. long; leaflets 11–47, often subalternate, elliptic-oblong, entire, truncate or rounded at the base, rounded or broadly acute apically up to 13 × 7 mm. near the middle of the leaf, usually smaller towards its tip, much smaller, sometimes only 1 mm. long, at the base.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers white or greenish white in short pedunculate pubescent, sometimes precocious, cymes 1–4 cm. long; pedicels up to 8 mm. long in fruit.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx pubescent, ± 1.5 mm. long, with triangular lobes.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Petals ovate, ± 2 mm. long, pubescent near the centre.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Filaments

Filaments ± 0.3 mm. wide, the upper part filiform, ± 0.05 mm. wide; anthers 0.7 mm. long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc

Disc concave.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil

Ovary glabrous; style ± 0.6 mm. long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit green, often tinged with crimson, 18–20(–25) mm. long, 9–11 (–14) mm. wide, widest ± 6 mm. below the tip; nutlets subcruciform, the apical spine longer and more slender than the other 3.

Figures

Fig. 2/14–19.

Habitat

Acacia, Commiphora bushland on basement complex or lava and red sandy soil; alt. 200–1350 m.; rainfall 250–600 mm.

Distribution

K1 K2 K3 K4 K7 T2 T3 U1

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Type

N2, S of “Meid”, Hildebrandt 1508 (K holo.)

Morphology General Habit

Shrub or tree, up to 8 m tall; bark smooth to rough, grey to purplish black, not peeling; branchlets ± at right angles to main branches, slender, pubescent

Morphology Leaves

Leaves narrowly oblanceolate to obovate or lanceolate in outline, often turning red when old, 2–11 cm long, including 2–16 mm long petiole, subglabrous or, more often, pubescent with ± appressed to spreading hairs up to 0.6 mm long; rhachis sometimes slightly winged; leaflets (3–)5–45(–51), entire, subsessile, ovate to oblong-elliptic or obovate, rounded to cuneate at the base, obtuse or broadly pointed at the apex, up to 13(–18) x 8(–10) mm

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Flowers in few-flowered pubescent racemes or panicles up to 6(–10) cm long; bracts oblong to triangular, up to 6 x 2.5 mm; pedicels 1–8 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Calyx c. 1.5 mm long, glabrous or pubescent; petals ovate, c. 2–3 mm long, glabrous or medially pubescent outside; filaments 0.8–1 mm long, ovate, abruptly narrowed near the middle into a filiform tip, papillose

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit 3(–4)-celled, pear-shaped to subglobose, sometimes ± winged, glabrous, 8–22(–25) x 7–11(–14) mm; stones ± cross-like, with apical and basal horns as well as lateral horns, without or with a narrow ± caducous wing.

Distribution

N1–3; C1, 2; S1, 2

Ecology

Altitude range 130–990 m.

Vernacular

Bay-bay, muqlay, murchen (Somali).

Note

This species is taken here in a wider sense than in Fl. Eth. 3: 445 (1990) and Fl. Trop. E. Afr. (1991), where B. microphylla is recognized. In some areas it is possible to distinguish between forms with many leaflets nearest corresponding to B. hildebrandtii and B. multifoliolata and forms with few leaflets corresponding to B. microphylla, but the variation in large parts of Somalia is continuous. Also the type of B. neglecta , with about 17–21 leaflets, is intermediate.