Family:
Meliaceae Juss.

Entandrophragma C.DC.

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

[FZ]

Meliaceae, F. White & B. T. Styles. Flora Zambesiaca 2:1. 1963

Morphology General Habit
Trees, usually of large size.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves paripinnate, leaflets entire.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers (? always) monoecious, borne in panicles.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx lobed in upper half or almost to base, lobes 5, aestivation open.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, free, much longer than the calyx in bud, contorted.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Staminal tube cup-shaped (in our area), margin entire with 10 anthers borne on very short filaments.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
Disk (in our area) cushion-shaped, enveloping the base of the ovary and connected to the Staminal tube by 10 short ridges.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary 5-locular, each loculus with 4–12 pendulous anatropous ovules in 2 rows; style short; style-head discoid with 5 radiating (?) stigmatic grooves on the upper surface, not completely blocking the entrance to the Staminal tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit a pendulous elongate woody septifragal capsule, cigar-shaped, fusiform, cylindric or claviform, opening by 5 valves from the apex or base or from the apex and base simultaneously; columella extending to the apex of the capsule, 5-angled or 5-ridged, softly woody, deeply indented with the imprints of seeds; seed-scars conspicuous or inconspicuous; seeds 3–8 per loculus, attached by the seed-end to the distal part of the columella, and winged towards the base of the capsule.

[FTEA]

Meliaceae, Styles & F. White (Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford). Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1991

Morphology General Habit
Large trees
Morphology Leaves
Leaves basically paripinnate, but leaflets sometimes alternate and leaves appearing imparipinnate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers 5-merous, unisexual (plants dioecious) in large panicles
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx ± entire and cupuliform or with 5 acute lobes, aestivation open
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, free, contorted
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Staminal tube urceolate or cup-shaped, the margin entire or shallowly or deeply lobed, with 10 shortly stalked anthers or antherodes on the margin of the tube or its lobes; appendages absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
Disk cushion-shaped, fused to the base of the ovary or pistillode, but free from the staminal tube and connected to it by 10 or 20 short ridges or partitions
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary 5-locular, each locule with 4–12 ovules; style-head discoid, with 5 radiating stigmatic lobes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit a pendulous, elongate, woody, cigar-shaped, cylindrical or club-shaped, septifragal capsule, opening by 5 valves from the apex or base or from both simultaneously; columella softly woody, extending to the apex of the capsule, 5-angled or 5-ridged, deeply indented with the imprints of the seeds; seed-scars conspicuous or inconspicuous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds with a terminal wing, 3–9 per locule, attached by the seed-end to the distal part of the columella and winged towards the base of the capsule.

Native to:

Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cabinda, Cameroon, Caprivi Strip, Central African Repu, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Entandrophragma C.DC. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Jan 1, 1996 Thomas, D.W. [10084], Cameroon K000518765 No
Myers, J.G. [11771], Sudan 16517.000 No
Cheek, M. [3024], Cameroon K000094089 No
Maitland, T.D. [1717], Cameroon K000094088 No
Cheek, M. [3024], Cameroon K000094090 No

First published in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2: 582 (1894)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R. (2001). World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS E-F: 1-50919.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • Harms in E. & P. Pflanzenfam. 19B, 1: 55 (1940)
  • Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berl. 14: 43! (1940).
  • in Bull. Herb. Boiss. 2: 582 (1894)

Flora Zambesiaca

  • in Bull. Herb. Boiss. 2: 582, t. 12 (1894).

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Pennington & Styles in Blumea 22: 518 (1975)
  • in Bull. Herb. Boiss. 2: 582, t. 21 (1894)

  • Flora Zambesiaca

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

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. 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 2022. 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