Zygophyllaceae
Balanites

Balanites rotundifolia (Tiegh.) Blatt.

First published in Rec. Bot. Surv. India 8: 109 (1919)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Ethiopia to Kenya, S. Yemen. It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome.

Descriptions

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Shrub or tree, up to 8 m high, spiny, usually low and bushy
Morphology Stem
Young stems and spines grey-green, glabrous or puberulous to pubescent
Morphology General Spines
Spines arising (1–)2–5(–10) cm above the leaf-axil, (2–)2.5–7.5(–11) cm long, very frequently bearing secondary spines
Morphology General Scales
Scale leaves occasional on young growth, 2–3 mm long
Morphology Leaves
Foliage leaves on stems and spines, sessile or subsessile
Morphology Leaves Leaflets
Leaflets sessile, orbicular to broadly obovate or obovate-elliptic, 0.75–6.5 x 0.8–4.8 cm, usually leathery, often undulate, rounded to broadly cuneate at the base, rounded to truncate at the apex, glabrous or pubescent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers 4-merous, in few–8(–12)-flowered sometimes pedunculate clusters on stems and spines; pedicels 2.5–16 mm long, glabrous or pubescent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 3.5–5.5 mm long, sparsely hairy
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals obovate-elliptic, yellowish- or olive-green, 3–6.5 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 8
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary glabrous to densely pubescent or pilose; style 1–2 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit not elongating in early development, swelling at first proximally, becoming ovoid, rounded at both ends, ripening orange-yellow, 2.5–3 x 1.8–2.5 cm.
Note
Var. setulifera Sands is confined to eastern Kenya.
[FSOM]

Balanitaceae, Martin J.S. Sands. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2003

Morphology General Habit
A spiny evergreen shrub or small tree up to 6(–8) m high (frequently much shorter), with a low bushy habit, densely branched, or with a trunk up to 40 cm diameter; bark grey-brown, strongly fissured; sap gummy; branchlets grey-green or yellowish-brown and, like the young spines, glabrous or puberulous to pubescent at first, glabrescent.
Morphology General Spines
Primary spines borne on the parent axis at a varying angle, (1–)2–5(–10) cm above the axil, 2–11 cm long, 2–5 mm diameter at the base, subulate, smooth or sometimes shallowly grooved, green or yellowish-green, spinuliferous with some branch-spines; spinules 0.5–2 cm long grading to branch-spines.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves on the stems and spines, sessile or with a petiole up to 4 mm long; stipules 1–2(–3) mm long, triangular, puberulous, often persistent; leaflets sessile or sub-sessile, orbicular to broadly obovate or obovate-elliptic, 0.7–6.5 cm long, 0.8–4.8 cm wide, coriaceous, frequently concave and undulate, apex rounded or sometimes emarginate to truncate and abruptly apiculate, base rounded or broadly cuneate, glabrous or puberulous to pubescent, eventually glabrescent, rarely setulose; foliole linear, 0.7–4 mm long, sometimes caducous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence on the stems and spines, a few to 12-flowered fascicle or sometimes clustered on a short peduncle up to 2.8 cm long, axillary or rarely terminal on a leafy shoot; pedicels 0.2–1.6 cm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers 4-merous; sepals ovate, 3–5.5 mm long, 3 mm wide, acute to acuminate, sparsely pubescent outside, the glabrous margin narrow; petals yellowish green or olive-green, obovate-elliptic, 3–6.5 mm long, 1.8–2.5 mm wide, acute or obtuse and sometimes irregular at the apex, narrowing to the base, glabrous within; stamens 8, spreading-erect; anthers 1.5–2 mm long, 0.5–1 mm wide; ovary 1–1.5 mm high, glabrous or densely pubescent to pilose; style 1–2 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit, not elongating in early development, swelling at first proximally, with slower expansion of the glabrous style-base, eventually ripening orange-yellow, ovoid to broadly ellipsoid when mature, 2.5–3 cm long, 1.8–2.5 cm diameter, rounded at both ends, thin, hard, brittle and smooth on the outside, fibrous within enclosing a dense pale layer, the endocarp hard and oily, the seed becoming free inside the fruit.
[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]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/158240/768209

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 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 2024. 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 2024. 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

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images