Acanthaceae
Acanthopale

Acanthopale macrocarpa Vollesen

First published in Fl. Trop. E. Africa, Acanth.(1): 218 (2008)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is SW. Rwanda, Uganda to SW. Kenya. It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

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]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/48153984/48154133

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Acanthaceae (part 2), Kaj Vollesen. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2008

Type
Type: Kenya, N Kavirondo District: Kakamega Forest, Drummond & Hemsley 4772 (K!, holo.; EA!, K!, iso.)
Morphology General Habit
Shrubby herb or soft-wooded shrub to 5 m tall; young stems quadrangular and longitudinally furrowed but not winged, glabrous or with a few hairs at nodes
Morphology Leaves
Leaves with petiole 1–3 cm long on larger leaves without or with a few long spreading hairs on edges; lamina ovate to elliptic, largest 11–24 × 4–8.5 cm, apex acuminate to cuspidate, base attenuate, glabrous or with a few hairs along midrib and veins beneath, without (rarely a few) hairs on edges
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences at first capitate but soon elongating into racemes to 5(–15 in fruit) cm long; peduncle up to 2.5 cm long, winged, glabrous; internodes to 2 cm long in elongated racemes, winged; pedicels to 1 mm long; bracteoles lanceolate to oblanceolate, 10–15 mm long, never with apical part recurved, glabrous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 10–14 mm long, glabrous, lobes linear-lanceolate, subacute, apical part often recurved
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla white, hairy on lobes and in a thin dorsal band; tube below attachment of stamens 3–5 mm long, throat 20–25 mm long and 15–20 mm in diameter apically, lobes 4–7 mm long, acute or bifid at apex
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Filaments
Free part of filaments 8–15 and 10–17 mm long, densely hairy along their whole length; anthers 3–4 mm long; ventral stigma lobe ± 2 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 15–18 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed (immature) 4–5 × 3–4 mm.
Ecology
Medium altitude wet evergreen forest; 1500–1600 m
Note
Mass flowering and subsequent dying back occurred in Uganda in 1974 and 1982. Differs from A. laxiflora in the glabrous bracteoles and calyces, the very short basal corolla tube, the densely hairy filaments and the larger capsules.
Distribution
Flora districts: U2 K5 Range: Not known elsewhere
[FTEA]

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 2026. 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 2026. 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