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This genus is accepted, and its native range is Tropics & Subtropics.
Sterculia sp (Sterculiaceae)

[FTEA]

Sterculiaceae, Martin Cheek & Laurence Dorr; Nesogordonia, Laurence Dorr, Lisa Barnett. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2007

Morphology General Habit
Monoecious, evergreen or deciduous shrubs and trees.
Morphology Stem
Stem often producing a gummy exudate when wounded; bud-scales present and persistent
Morphology Leaves
Leaves entire, digitately lobed or divided; lobes or leaflets 3–7, entire; stipules usually highly caducous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences usually paniculate, rarely spike-like, often on leafless stems; bracts usually caducous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers with a single united perianth whorl, purplish red, green or yellow, usually with five reflexed lobes, rarely cohering at the tip Male flowers with 8–10 anthers each with two separate thecae, ± randomly dispersed (not in discrete ranks as in Cola) in a globose head, ovary entirely absent, borne on a long, often curved androphore Female flowers with anthers at base of subsessile apocarpous ovary; carpels 5, uniseriate
sex Male
Male flowers with 8–10 anthers each with two separate thecae, ± randomly dispersed (not in discrete ranks as in Cola) in a globose head, ovary entirely absent, borne on a long, often curved androphore
sex Female
Female flowers with anthers at base of subsessile apocarpous ovary; carpels 5, uniseriate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit carpels separated, developing into dehiscent follicles, each globose to cylindrical, often rostrate and stipitate, pericarp leathery and flexible to stout and woody, the valves opening slightly or completely, outside often red or pink, inside pale yellow or white, dehiscing along the line of the placenta which usually covered in urticating hairs
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds leaden black, often with a yellow or red aril near the seed stalk
Figures
Fig 1, p. 6.

[FSOM]

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

Morphology General Habit
Trees or shrubs, monoecious or dioecious, usually with indumentum of stellate hairs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves entire, lobed or digitately divided
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers in panicles or racemes, unisexual. Calyx 4–5(–6)-lobed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flowers with ovary of 4–5 coherent carpels surrounded by staminodes and often borne on top of a gynophore; carpels each with 2–many ovules; styles coherent with peltate or 4–5-lobed stigma Male flowers with c. 10–20 stamens in a capitate cluster on a slender androphore
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Carpels separating at maturity and becoming woody or leathery follicles, often with irritating hairs inside
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds often with aril at base.
Distribution
Some 170 species in the tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres.

[FZ]

Sterculiaceae, H. Wild. Flora Zambesiaca 1:2. 1961

Morphology General Habit
Trees with entire, lobed or occasionally digitate leaves.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences paniculate or rarely racemose, terminal or axillary, appearing before or with the leaves.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers bisexual or unisexual, monoecious or dioecious. Male flower: anthers c. 10–20 in a capitate or capitate-globose cluster on a slender androphore. Female flower: ovary of 4–5 coherent carpels with 2-? ovules per carpel; often borne on a short gynophore with vestigial anthers at its base; styles coherent; stigma peltate or 4–5-lobed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 4–5 (6)-lobed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 0.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Carpels
Carpels separating at maturity and becoming follicular, usually rather woody or leathery.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 1-?.

[FTEA]
Use
In East Africa the bark of many species is used locally as a source of fibre for ropes and string, and the seeds when roasted are often used as food.

[FSOM]
Use
Young fruits may be eaten. The bast-fibres of the Somali species are used for rope making

Native to:

Andaman Is., Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Bolivia, Borneo, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, Cabinda, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Caroline Is., Central African Repu, Chad, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Djibouti, East Himalaya, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Florida, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Hainan, Honduras, India, Ivory Coast, Jawa, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Maluku, Mauritania, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Guinea, New South Wales, Nicaragua, Nicobar Is., Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Oman, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Queensland, Rwanda, Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Senegal, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Solomon Is., Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Suriname, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vietnam, Wallis-Futuna Is., Western Australia, Windward Is., Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Cuba, Hawaii, Jamaica, Pakistan, Puerto Rico

Sterculia L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Bullock, A.A. [3064], Tanzania 15392.000
Greenway, P.J. [1044], Tanzania 15393.000
Tanner, R. [436], Tanzania 15394.000
Dalziel, J.M., Gambia 22102.000
Coode, M.J.E. [5675], Philippines 51097.000
Fay, J.M. [8459], Central African Republic 63367.000
Utteridge, T.M.A. [388], New Guinea 64409.000
Cummins, H.A. [169], Ghana K000230059 isotype
Thomas, D.W. [4945], Cameroon K000094709
Thomas, D.W. [4945], Cameroon K000094710
Heringer, E.P. [17988], Brazil K001214104
Krukoff, B.A. [8844], Brazil K001214103
Glaziou, A.F.M. [18148], Brazil K001214105

First published in Sp. Pl.: 1007 (1753)

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. 1: 215.

Flora Zambesiaca

  • Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 438(1754).
  • Sp. Pl. 2: 1007 (1753)

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, Vol 2, (1999) Author: by M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • L, Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 438 (1754)
  • Sp. Pl.: 1008 (1753)

Art and Illustrations in Digifolia
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew

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

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

Interactive Key to Seed Plants of Malesia and Indo-China
The Malesian Key Group (2010) Interactive Key to Seed Plants of Malesia and Indo-China (Version 2.0, 28 Jul 2010) The Nationaal Herbarium Nederland Leiden and The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. 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 2021. 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