Vangueria praecox Verdc.

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

Morphology General Habit

Much-branched many-stemmed deciduous shrub or slender small tree 3–6 m. tall; branches ± horizontal; bark greyish brown, purplish or blackish, the young shoots ± smooth, with rather pale peeling epidermis, the older more ridged, obscurely lenticellate; flowers mostly appearing when leaves are very young or almost absent; current season’s shoots sometimes ± herbaceous and drying dark but soon covered with bark; some lateral branches have very congested internodes.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves terminating short lateral branches, dark green; blades elliptic or somewhat obovate, 5.5–14.5 or more cm. long, 2.2–10.5 cm. wide, acuminate at the apex, the acumen usually rounded at the tip, cuneate at the base, glossy above, glabrous, at first thin but eventually almost coriaceous and ± paler beneath; venation usually drying pale; petioles 2–3 mm. long and where the leaves appear to come direct from the apex of an old shoot the base of the petiole appears adnate and decurrent, forming a shield 6 mm. long drying black which contrasts strongly with the pale corky bark; stipules with base 1.5–6 mm. long and wide and subulate part 3–7 mm. long, at first herbaceous but soon becoming corky and hairy within; the persistent corky bases of paired stipules terminate old branchlets and appear as a mouth from which new leaves and inflorescences emerge, both drying black and contrasting.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences glabrous very short 3–4-flowered cymes 7 mm. long, almost sessile or peduncles only 1–2 mm. long; pedicels 0.5–1.5 mm. long; bracts linear-lanceolate, 2–4 mm. long.

Morphology General Buds

Buds ± acuminate, glabrous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx-tube depressed-subglobose, 2 mm. tall, 2.5–2.7 mm. wide; lobes linear-oblong, 2–5.5 mm. long, recurved.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla green or yellow-green; tube 3–4 mm. long; lobes narrowly triangular, 2.5 mm. long, slightly appendaged.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil

Style 3.5 mm. long; stigmatic club cylindrical, 0.7 mm. long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruits yellow or greenish yellow to orange or brown, fleshy, subglobose, almost sessile, 2.2–2.8 cm. long, 2.3–2.6 cm. wide, containing 4–5 pyrenes; pyrenes buff, kidney-bean-shaped, ± 1.5 cm. long, 7 mm. wide, 9 mm. thick, with a hilum-like notch on inner margin, rather rugose.

Figures

Figs. 132/16, p. 754 & 151.

Habitat

Mixed woodland on granite slopes and bushland on sandy soils, also valleys with impeded drainage (mbugas); 710–1300 m.

Distribution

T5 T7 not known elsewhere