Family:
Euphorbiaceae Juss.

Spirostachys Sond.

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

[FTEA]

Euphorbiaceae, A. R.-Smith. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1987

Morphology General Habit
Dioecious or monoecious completely glabrous trees or shrubs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate, petiolate, stipulate, simple, crenate, penninerved, glanduliferous at the apex of the petiole
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences axillary, sessile, spicate and amentiform or racemose, solitary, geminate or fascicled, unisexual or bisexual, if the latter then most of the inflorescence ♂ with 1–3 ♀ flowers at the base; ♂ bracts 1-flowered, with or without glands at the sides; bracteoles present or 0
sex Male
Male flowers small, sessile; sepals (2–)5, ± free, imbricate; petals 0; disc 0; stamens 3, free or united, long-exserted, anthers extrorse, basifixed, 2-thecous, longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode 0
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flowers small, shortly pedicellate; sepals 3–5, ± free, open in bud; petals 0; disc 0; ovary (2–)3-locular, with 1 ovule per locule; styles (2–)3, shortly connate at the base, entire, not strongly coiled Male flowers small, sessile; sepals (2–)5, ± free, imbricate; petals 0; disc 0; stamens 3, free or united, long-exserted, anthers extrorse, basifixed, 2-thecous, longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode 0
sex Female
Female flowers small, shortly pedicellate; sepals 3–5, ± free, open in bud; petals 0; disc 0; ovary (2–)3-locular, with 1 ovule per locule; styles (2–)3, shortly connate at the base, entire, not strongly coiled
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit (2–)3-lobed, dehiscing into (2–)3 bivalved cocci, the valves of which do not immediately separate; exocarp smooth, not separating from the endocarp; endocarp thinly crustaceous; columella persistent, 3-winged at the apex
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds globose or ovoid; caruncle minute, separating from the seed and remaining adnate to the columella; testa crustaceous; albumen fleshy; cotyledons broad, flat.

[FSOM]

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

Morphology General Habit
Dioecious or monoecious glabrous trees or shrubs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate, simple; petioles with a pair of small glands at the apex; stipules present
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers small, in axillary spikes or racemes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male flowers sessile; sepals (2–)5, imbricate; petals absent; stamens 3, free; disc and pistillode absent Female flowers shortly pedicellate; sepals 3–5; petals and disc absent; ovary (2–)3-celled, with 1 ovule per cell; styles (2–)3, with entire stigmas
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit dehiscing into (2–)3 bivalved cocci, the valves of which do not immediately separate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds globose or ovoid, with minute caruncle separating from the seed and remaining adnate to the persistent columella of the fruit.
Distribution
Genus of two species, both in Africa, very close to Excoecaria.

[FZ]

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

Morphology General Habit
Dioecious or monoecious glabrous trees or shrubs.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate, petiolate, stipulate, simple, crenate, penninerved, glanduliferous at the petiole apex.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences axillary, sessile, spicate and amentiform, or racemose, unisexual or bisexual with the inflorescence mostly male and with 1–3 female flowers at the base; bracts glandular or not at the base, 1-flowered.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male flowers small, sessile; sepals (2)5, imbricate; petals and disk absent; stamens 3, free or united, exserted; anthers extrorse, basifixed, bithecate, longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode absent. Female flowers small, shortly pedicellate; sepals 3–5, open in bud; petals and disk absent; ovary (2)3-locular, with 1 ovule per locule; styles (2)3, united at the base, entire, not strongly coiled.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit (2)3-lobed, dehiscing into bivalved cocci; valves not readily separating; exocarp smooth; endocarp thinly crustaceous; columella persistent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds globose or ovoid; testa crustaceous; caruncle minute, separating from the seed and remaining adnate to the columella; albumen fleshy; cotyledons broad, flat.

Native to:

Angola, Botswana, Cape Provinces, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe

Spirostachys Sond. appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Linnaea 23: 106 (1850)

Accepted by

  • 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.

Literature

Flora Zambesiaca

  • in Linnaea 23: 106 (1850).

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, Vol 1, (1993) Author: by M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Pax in E.P. IV. 147(5): 153 (1912)
  • Prain in F.T.A. 6(1): 1005 (1913)
  • in Linnaea 23: 106 (1850)

  • Flora Zambesiaca

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

  • Flora of Somalia

    Flora of Somalia
    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