Family:
Myristicaceae R.Br.

Pycnanthus Warb.

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

[FZ]

Myristicaceae, B.L. Stannard. Flora Zambesiaca 9:2. 1997

Morphology General Habit
Evergreen trees or lianes, dioecious or monoecious.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves mostly cordate at the base, minutely punctate and ± glaucous beneath, strongly pinnately nerved; lateral nerves prominent, numerous, tertiary venation subparallel.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences paniculate, divaricately branched with flowers clustered in numerous dense obovoid-globose heads at the ends of the inflorescence branches; flowers sessile; bracteoles absent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flower perianth as in male; stigma sessile, indistinct. Male flower perianth 3–4-lobed; stamen filaments fused into a slender column; anthers 2–6, adnate to the column about the apical part.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit oblong, ellipsoid or ± globular with a thick cartilaginous pericarp, dehiscent; pericarp thickly woody-crustaceous in mature fruits.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed testa somewhat thin; aril laciniate; endosperm fatty, ruminate; cotyledons free almost to the base, suberect.

[FTEA]

Myristicaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1997

Morphology General Habit
Evergreen trees or lianes, usually considered dioecious (but see note under species)
Morphology Leaves
Leaves mostly cordate at base and glaucous beneath, mostly with numerous lateral nerves and subparallel tertiary venation
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Panicles divaricate, with clustered or ± scattered heads of sessile claviform or obovoid flowers; bracteoles absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male with perianth 3–4-fid; stamens with filaments fused into a slender column; anthers 2–6, adnate to the apex of the column Female with perianth as in male; stigma sessile, indistinct
sex Male
Male with perianth 3–4-fid; stamens with filaments fused into a slender column; anthers 2–6, adnate to the apex of the column
sex Female
Female with perianth as in male; stigma sessile, indistinct
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit oblong, ellipsoid or ± globular, with thick fleshy pericarp, dehiscent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed with ± thin testa, laciniate aril and fatty ruminate endosperm; cotyledons free almost to the base, suberect.

Native to:

Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre

Pycnanthus Warb. appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 13: 94 (1895 publ. 1896)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6. Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • —F.T.A. 6, 1: 157.

Flora Zambesiaca

  • Kühn & Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 2: 464, fig. 99C (1993).
  • in Notizbl. Königl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 1: 99 (1895)
  • in Nova Acta Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. German. Nat. Cur. 68: 130, 252 (1897).

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • G.F.P. 1: 150 (1964)
  • Kuhn & Kubitzki in Kubitzki et al., Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 2: 464, fig. 99C (1993)
  • in Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 13, Generalvers.-Heft: 94 (1896)
  • in N.B.G.B. 1: 99 (1895)
  • in Nova Acta Acad. Leop.-Carol. 68: 130, 252 (1897)

  • 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

  • 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