Marsdenia chirindensis Goyder

Goyder, D. J., Gilbert, M. G. & Venter, H. J. T. (2020). Apocynaceae (part 2). In: M. A. García (ed.), Flora Zambesiaca, Vol. 7(3). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Type

Zimbabwe, Chirinda Forest, near Swynnerton’s memorial, fl. 28.xii.2011, Ballings & Würsten 1690 (BR holotype).

Morphology General Habit

Slender woody scrambler, latex colour not recorded; stems glabrous or sparsely pubescent

Morphology Leaves

Leaves with petiole 2.5–3 cm long, pubescent; lamina 7–12 × 3.5–5 cm, oblong to elliptic, apex acute to attenuate, base cuneate, glabrous except for a few short hairs on the principal veins beneath

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences extra-axillary, simple or branched with flowers in umbelliform clusters, longer than the petioles of the adjacent leaf pair, pedunculate, the peduncle (to first branching point) 3–6 cm long, glabrous or pubescent along one line; bracts mostly 0.5–1 mm long, occasionally larger and more foliose; pedicels 10–15 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Sepals 1.5–2.5 mm long, suborbicular with a rounded apex, glabrous, margins ciliate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla united into a tube for around half of its length and completely enclosing the gynostegium; tube greenish, 2–2.5 mm long, glabrous outside, with a band of white hairs to 1 mm long inside the tube and throat; lobes yellowish with longitudinal reddish streaks within, 2–2.5 mm long, c.2 mm wide, suberect to spreading, oblong or broadly triangular with a subacute apex, glabrous outside, glabrous or minutely papillose within beyond the tuft of long hairs in the throat

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corona

Corolline corona absent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Filaments

Staminal corona lobes c.2 mm long, fleshy, quadrate to triangular in section below and adnate to the staminal column for less than half their length, the upper free portion forming a dorsiventrally flattened tongue with a truncate or weakly emarginate apex arching over the top of the stylar head

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers

Anther wings 0.8–0.9 mm long, much longer than broad; gynostegium ± sessile

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pollinarium

Corpusculum c.0.2 mm long, subcylindrical; translator arms c.0.3 mm long; pollinia c.0.4 × 0.2 mm, broadly elliptic in outline, somewhat flattened

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style

Stylar head not exserted beyond anther appendages

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit and seeds not known.

Recognition

Resembles M. cynanchoides, but differs in its long-pedunculate and much branched inflorescence (rather than subsessile and sub-umbelliform).

Distribution

Zimbabwe.

Ecology

Known only from the type. Margins of evergreen forest; 1070 m.