Rubiaceae
Pavetta

Pavetta sparsipila Bremek.

First published in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1936: 484 (1936)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tanzania (Uluguru Mountains). It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Rubiaceae, B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1976

Morphology General Habit
Shrub or small tree 1.8–3 m. tall; young branches glabrous, very soon covered with pale brown corky bark, flaking when older.
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blades usually turning blue-black when dry, obovate or less frequently oblanceolate, 7–11(–12.4) cm. long, 2.4–4.5 cm. wide, apex acuminate, sometimes mucronulate, base cuneate to attenuate, sparsely to very sparsely hairy on both sides but with denser hairs on the nerves beneath; bacterial nodules dot-shaped, scattered; petiole 0.4–1.5 cm. long, sparsely hairy; stipule-limbs brown, transparent, ± triangular, 6 mm. long, membranous, caducous; arista up to 1.5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Corymbs terminal on short leafless (but sometimes with nodes) lateral branches 5–12.3 cm. long, erect or less often pendent, 1–2 mm. thick, covered with a thin layer of cork, moderately compact, 2–4 cm. across; primary inflorescence-branches 0.3–1.2 cm. long, sparsely hairy; secondary and tertiary branches usually present; pedicels 1.5–5 mm. long, hirsute-pubescent; bracts brown or buff, 4–5 mm. long, papery; bracteoles fawnish brown, papery.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx-tube 1–1.25 mm. long, densely hirsute-pubescent to pubescent; limb-tube 1–1.75 mm. long; lobes very narrowly triangular to narrowly linear, 5–7 mm. long, 0.5–1 mm. wide at base, sparsely hairy.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla-tube 1.1–1.5 cm. long, 1.5–2 mm. wide at top, glabrous outside, not bearded at throat; lobes oblong, 5–6.5 mm. long, 1.5–2 mm. wide, apiculate, long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit not known.
Habitat
Forest; 1200–1500 m.
Distribution
known only from the Uluguru Mts. T6
[FTEA]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/32279/9692825

Conservation
VU - vulnerable
[IUCN]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. 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 2025. 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