Rubiaceae
Tricalysia

Tricalysia gilchristii Brenan

First published in Kew Bull. 3: 499 (1948 publ. 1949)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tanzania (Mufindi). It is a shrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

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

Morphology General Habit
Small shrub; young twigs with short dense erect hairs.
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blades ovate or ± elliptic, (2–)3.5–7 cm. long, (1.5–)2–3.5 cm. wide, obtuse at apex, cuneate, truncate, rounded or cordate, often somewhat unequal at base, puberulous on both sides when young, becoming almost glabrous above and sparsely puberulous (especially the midrib) beneath, papyraceous; 5–6 pairs of main lateral nerves; domatia absent; petiole (2–)4–7 mm. long, with short erect hairs; stipules triangular, with scarious margin, 1–2 mm. long and with awns up to 2 mm. long, puberulous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers (4–)5-merous, subsessile, solitary or in many-flowered sessile inflorescences; bracts and bracteoles cupular, scarious, much resembling the calyx-limbs.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx-tube glabrous; limb first ovoid or ellipsoid and almost entirely covering the corolla-bud, with very short teeth at the tip, later when the flower opens, becoming deeply bilobed by longitudinal splitting, membranous and ± transparent, pubescent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla white, sparsely pubescent outside and glabrous within; tube 3–3.5 mm. long, 1–1.5 mm. wide; lobes 4–5.5 mm. long, 2–2.25 mm. wide, emarginate and laterally apiculate at tip.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Filaments flattened 1.5–2.5 mm. long; anthers 1.5–2 mm. long, with shortly apiculate tip.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Placenta with 2 collateral ovules; style glabrous or with a few short hairs towards the tip, 7–8.5 mm. long including the 1–1.5 mm. long lobes.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit red, ± ovoid, 6 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 1–2 in each chamber, their shape respectively 1/2–1/4-ellipsoid; testa minutely striate; hilum linear, straight.
Habitat
Upland forest; 1730–1900 m.
Distribution
T7 known only from Mufindi area.
[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: 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/

  • 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