Pedaliaceae
Sesamothamnus

Sesamothamnus busseanus Engl.

First published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 32: 114 (1902)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is E. & S. Ethiopia to Tanzania. It is a caudex shrub or tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

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

Morphology General Habit
Branched shrubs or rarely small trees, up to 7 m tall; spines numerous, often with small protrusions on the lower side
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blades obovate, 1–5 x 0.5–2.5 cm, upper side sparsely glandular, lower side moderately glandular, often pubescent on both sides in addition to the mucilage glands
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla white; tube moderately funnel-shaped, up to 4 cm long; spur slender, up to 6 cm long, longer than the tube; lobes obovate to transversely elliptic, all except the lowermost one conspicuously fringed, the fringes up to 3 cm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules 30–50 x 15–22 mm
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds including the wing transversely elliptic, c. 8 x 14 mm, wing at the sides 3.5–5 mm and at the tip 1–2 mm wide.
Distribution
N1–3; C1, 2; S2; Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania
Ecology
Altitude range 100–600 m.
Vernacular
Indabeil, salema, sallil man, salalmaa, selelmac, selelmah (Somali).
Note
Collections from the extreme NE stand out by their much smaller fruits.
[FSOM]

Pedaliaceae, A. Bruce. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1953

Morphology General Habit
Shrub or small tree 2–5 m. high with a swollen trunk and soft wood; bark dark coppery-green scaling off in papery shavings; branches pale brown to reddish brown, glabrous to densely pubescent particularly on the young shoots; spines numerous, straight or slightly recurved, swollen at the base, up to 1.5 cm. long, usually bearing a pair of smaller spines near the base on the upper side.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves shortly petiolate, obovate, 2–5 cm. long, 1–2.5 cm. broad, densely glandular below, shortly pubescent on both surfaces or glabrescent above.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers (Fig. 1/14) white, or white with a crimson tube; pedicels about 5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx-lobes glandular and pubescent, triangular, acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla-tube 2.5–4 cm. long, 3–5 mm. broad at the base widening to 7–11 mm. at the throat, glabrous to glandular-pubescent without, glabrous within; spur slender, 4–6 cm. long; limb 4–9 cm. in diameter, glabrous above, sparsely glandular below; lobes subequal, all except outer one conspicuously fringed, obovate to transversely elliptic, 1.2–2 cm. long, 1.5–3 cm. broad, excluding the 1–2 cm. deep fringe.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Filaments free for 1.5 mm., adnate below; anthers apiculate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 3.5–4 cm. long, 1.6–2 cm. broad.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds (Fig. 1/15), including the wing, transversely oblong; wing 3.5–5 mm. broad at the sides, narrow at the base and apex.
Figures
Fig. 1/11–15, p. 3.
Habitat
Acacia-Commiphora scrub, rather more xerophytic than S. rivae but the two species overlap considerably; 300–1350 m.
Distribution
K1 K4 K7 T5 T7
[FTEA]

Sources

  • 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

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0