Rubiaceae
Pavetta

Pavetta subcana Hiern

First published in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 172 (1877)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is N. Nigeria to E. Tropical Africa. 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 1–3.5(–?8) m. tall; young branches glabrous or pubescent; older branches with grey or buff bark, occasionally flaking.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves not or rarely restricted to the apices of the branches; blades narrowly to broadly elliptic, rarely round, 1.8–7(–13.5) cm. long, 0.5–2.5(–6) cm. wide, apex obtuse or sometimes acute, occasionally mucronulate, base cuneate, glabrous or pubescent on both faces; bacterial nodules small, dot-shaped, few to many, scattered and on the lateral nerves; petioles 0.1–0.8(–1) cm. long; stipule-limbs 2–5 mm. long, truncate, membranous, glabrous or pubescent outside, glabrous or with silky hairs within; arista often drying blackish, up to 4 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers fragrant; inflorescences subumbellate, few–several-flowered, 0.8–1.5(–2.5) cm. across, terminal on leafless spurs or branches up to 2.5(–7) cm. long or occasionally on leafy branches; primary and secondary inflorescence-branches always absent; pedicels 1–2.5(–4) mm. long, pubescent or glabrous; bracts inconspicuous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx pubescent or glabrous; tube 1 mm. long; limb-tube 1 mm. long, very slightly wider than the tube; lobes shortly triangular to triangular, (0.75–)1–2.2 mm. long, 0.75–1 mm. wide at base.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla-tube (0.9–)1.2–2.2 cm. long, 1.5 mm. wide at top, glabrous or occasionally pubescent outside, pubescent within; lobes oblong-elliptic, 4–6(–7.5) mm. long, 1.25–1.75(–2.2) mm. wide, acute, obtuse or sometimes slightly apiculate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit black, 5–8 mm. in diameter, shiny, glabrous or sparsely hairy; pedicels somewhat accrescent, reaching 8 mm.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds blackish, 5 mm. wide, slightly rugulose on convex face.
[FTEA]

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: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Rubiaceae, F. N. Hepper & R. W. J. Keay. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

Morphology General Habit
A more or less scrambling shrub
Morphology General Indumentum
Pubescent on the young parts
Morphology Branches
Whitish branches
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Slender white flowers crowded in clusters on short lateral branchlets
Ecology
On hills in savanna country.
[FWTA]

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

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical 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/

  • 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