Hernandiaceae
Illigera

Illigera pentaphylla Welw.

First published in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 27: 26 (1869)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is W. Tropical Africa to SW. Kenya and Angola. It is a liana and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

Hernandiaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:1. 1954

Morphology General Habit
Stout forest liane.
[FWTA]

Hernandiaceae, B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1985

Morphology General Habit
Liane 3–13 m. long; stems green to blackish purplish or reddish, glabrescent save for pubescent nodes; cork on old stems soft, shallowly fissured.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 5-foliolate or sometimes 3-foliolate on juvenile or flowering shoots; petioles terete, 5–12 cm. long, laxly pilose, glabrescent; petiolules channelled, 0.7–1.5(–3) cm. long, with similar indumentum; leaflets ovate, oblong-elliptic or obovate to lanceolate, 4–12.5 cm. long, 2.5–6 cm. wide, shortly acuminate at the apex, obtuse to subcordate at the base, rather thick, glabrous above, laxly pilose on nerves at base beneath; lateral nerves in 2–3 pairs in the lower third of the lamina.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences with numerous greenish-white flowers; axes pubescent or tomentose; buds ellipsoid, ± 4 mm. long, subglabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Tepal
Outer tepals 5–7 mm. long, 5-nerved; inner shining white, linear, slightly shorter, 0.6–0.8 mm. wide; all minutely pilose inside and with setae up to 1 mm. long at the base.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Filaments with minute hooked hairs, setose beneath; appendages whitish, lanceolate, solid, 0.5–0.8 mm. long; anthers orange; interstaminal glands white, trapezoid.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits 2.5–3.5 cm. long, puberulous, 2-winged; wings oblong, 3.5–4 cm. long, 4–5 cm. wide.
Figures
Fig. 2/1–9.
Habitat
Evergreen forest; 1140–1650 m.
Distribution
K5 U2 U4 widespread in tropical Africa from Ghana and Ivory Coast to Angola and Zaire
[FTEA]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0