- Family:
- Rubiaceae Juss.
Sericanthe Robbr.

[FTEA]
Rubiaceae, B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1976
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrubs or sometimes small trees (outside Flora area one suffrutescent species)
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves mostly (and in Flora area always) provided with domatia as small tufts of hairs without apparent excavation; bacterial nodules often present on the underside of the leaf-blade, situated either along the midrib and down the petiole or (not in East Africa) scattered; stipules sheathing, overtopped by 2 awns, with silky hairs and colleters inside
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences axillary and opposite, with 1 or sometimes more flowers
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers (5–)7–8(9)-merous, subtended by 2–4 bracteolar cups, each with 2 unequal pairs of awns
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx ellipsoid in bud, either open (not in East Africa), or closed, with the tip obtuse to apiculate, completely covering the young corolla, deeply splitting between some lobes when the flower opens
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla white, salver-shaped, usually (in East Africa always) with silky indumentum outside; lobes spreading, contorted to the left
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens inserted at the throat, with basifixed anthers and with the connective broadly flattened
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
- Disc annular
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Ovary 2-locular, each chamber having 1 pendulous placenta attached to the septum; placenta with (1–)2 ovules; style 2-lobed, hairy or glabrous, exserted
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit mostly orange, sometimes red, nearly spherical, at first crowned by the persistent calyx which often withers as the fruit ripens, bilocular; endocarp papery, shiny inside
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds either 1 per chamber and hemispherical or 2 per chamber and shaped like a quarter of a sphere; seed-coat brown and striate; hilar scar apical-adaxial, forming a ± elliptic plane, with a diameter of at least half the seed height; endosperm horny, entire; embryo straight, attaining half the diameter of the seed; cotyledons subcircular, placed in the centre of the seed, equalling the laterally oriented radicle.
[FZ]
Rubiaceae, D.M.Bridson & B.Verdcourt. Flora Zambesiaca 5:3. 2003
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrubs, small trees or sometimes suffrutescent plants.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves often deciduous and dimorphic (blades at start of new season’s growth smaller and broader than those on the mature stem, TAB. 92/A), petiolate; domatia mostly present in the nerve axils as small tufts of hairs without an apparent excavation*; bacterial nodules often present on the underside of the leaf blade, situated either along the midrib and down the petiole (or outside the Flora Zambesiaca area, scattered); stipules sheathing at least when young, each limb with silky hairs and colleters inside and topped by an awn.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences axillary (very rarely apparently terminal on short shoots), 1-flowered or sometimes more; bract and bracteoles similar, cupular, arranged in a series of 2–4, progressively larger towards the top, each cupule with a pair of short and a pair of longer awns (TAB. 92/B6).
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers (5)7–8(9)-merous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx limb ellipsoid in bud, closed (outside the Flora Zambesiaca area, open) and completely covering the young corolla, with the tip obtuse to apiculate, splitting into two or more lobes at anthesis.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla white, salver-shaped, usually (always in the Flora Zambesiaca area) with silky indumentum outside; lobes contorted to the left in bud, spreading when mature.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens inserted at the throat; anthers basifixed, erect, with the connective broadly flattened.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
- Disk annular.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Ovary 2-locular, each locule with 1 pendulous placenta attached to the septum; placenta with (1)2 impressed or pendulous ovules; style slender, hairy or glabrous; pollen presenter 2-lobed, just included or shortly exserted.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit mostly orange, sometimes red, nearly spherical, at first crowned by the persistent calyx limb, but this often withers as the fruit ripens, bilocular; endocarp papery, shiny inside.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds either 1 per chamber and hemispherical or 2 per chamber and quarter- spherical; seed coat brown and striate; hilar scar pale, apical-adaxial, ± elliptic to circular, total area ± half the size of the seed; endosperm horny, entire; embryo straight, half the diameter of the seed in length; cotyledons subcircular, in the centre of the seed, equalling the laterally oriented radicle.
Native to:
Angola, Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
- Sericanthe adamii (N.Hallé) Robbr.
- Sericanthe andongensis (Hiern) Robbr.
- Sericanthe auriculata (Keay) Robbr.
- Sericanthe burundensis Robbr.
- Sericanthe chevalieri (K.Krause) Robbr.
- Sericanthe chimanimaniensis Wursten & De Block
- Sericanthe gabonensis Sonké & Robbr.
- Sericanthe halleana Robbr.
- Sericanthe jacfelicis (N.Hallé) Robbr.
- Sericanthe leonardii (N.Hallé) Robbr.
- Sericanthe lowryana Sonké & Robbr.
- Sericanthe mpassa Sonké & Robbr.
- Sericanthe odoratissima (K.Schum.) Robbr.
- Sericanthe pellegrinii (N.Hallé) Robbr.
- Sericanthe petitii (N.Hallé) Robbr.
- Sericanthe rabia Sonké & Robbr.
- Sericanthe raynaliorum (N.Hallé) Robbr.
- Sericanthe roseoides (De Wild. & T.Durand) Robbr.
- Sericanthe suffruticosa (Hutch.) Robbr.
- Sericanthe testui (N.Hallé) Robbr.
- Sericanthe toupetou (Aubrév. & Pellegr.) Robbr.
- Sericanthe trilocularis (Scott Elliot) Robbr.
Sericanthe Robbr. appears in other Kew resources:
First published in Bull. Jard. Bot. Natl. Belg. 48: 27 (1978)
Accepted by
- Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Sonké, B., Taedoumg, H. & Robbrecht, E. (2012). A reconsideration of the Lower Guinean species of Sericanthe (Rubiaceae, Coffeeae), with four new species from Cameroon and Gabon. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 169: 530-554.
Literature
Flora Zambesiaca
- in Bull. Jard. Bot. Belg. 48: 27 (1978)
- in Distr. Pl. Afr. 13: maps 406–429 (1978).
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Distr. Pl. Afr. 13, maps 406–429 (1978)
- in B.J.B.B. 48: 27 (1978)
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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