Securidaca welwitschii Oliv.

Polygalaceae, Jorge Paiva. Flora of Tropical East Africa, 2007

Type

Type: Angola, Golungo Alto, Alto Queta, Welwitsch 994 (LISU!, lecto.; BM!, COI!, K!, isolecto.)

Morphology General Habit

Scandent shrub or liana, 10–15 m tall.

Morphology Branches

Young branchlets minutely appressedpubescent, soon becoming glabrous

Morphology Leaves

Leaves thinly coriaceous, petiolate, broadly to oblong-elliptic, 5–15 × (1.5–)2–5.5 cm, acuminate, base cuneate to obtuse, upper surface shiny and glabrous or nearly so, glabrous below; petiole 5–8 mm, pubescent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers pink or purple, sometimes variegated with white, sweet-scented, in axillary or terminal racemes or simply branched panicles 2–10(–20) cm long, often borne on short shoots which become spiny, many-flowered; peduncle and rachis pubescent; bracts and bracteoles soon caducous; pedicels 5–8(–10) mm, pubescent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Posterior sepal ovate, 4–5 × 3–4 mm, ciliate; wing-sepals suborbicular, (4–)5–9(–11) mm in diameter; anterior sepals suborbicular to broadly ovate, 4–4.5 mm in diameter

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Upper petals narrowly elliptic or oblong-obovate, (4.5–)5–6(–7.5) × 2–3 mm, ciliate at the base; carina 7–10 mm × 5 mm, with a small lobed appendage 1 mm long near the apex

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Staminal sheath (3–)4–8 mm long, ciliate on the upper margin

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit 3–5 × 0.8–2 cm, with an oblong-elliptic somewhat obliquely curved wing, with a second imperfect and rudimentary wing; nut subglobose, 8–10 mm in diameter, rugulose or smooth.

Ecology

Upland evergreen forest; 1100–1650 m

Distribution

Flora districts: U2 U3 U 4 ; K3 K5 T3 T7 Range: West tropical Africa, Congo-Kinshasa, Angola, Zambia

Polygalaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:1. 1954

Morphology General Habit

Scandent shrub or lofty climber up to 80ft.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers white, often pink at the base of the petals, or yellowish.

Polygalaceae, A. W. Exell. Flora Zambesiaca 1:1. 1960

Morphology General Habit

A spiny scandent shrub or liane with young stems at first minutely appressed-pubescent, rapidly glabrescent.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves petiolate; lamina up to 10 x 5 cm., elliptic to oblong-elliptic or broadly oblong-elliptic, glabrous or nearly so, acuminate at the apex, cuneate to obtuse at the base; petiole up to 8 mm. long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences and flowers as in the preceding species but somewhat smaller than in the larger forms of S. longepedunculata, with the wing sepals up to about 8 mm. long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit as in S. longepedunculata but wing relatively narrower and less oblique.