Loranthaceae
Agelanthus

Agelanthus pennatulus (Sprague) Polhill & Wiens

First published in J.-P.Lebrun & A.L.Stork, Énum. Pl. Fleurs Afr. Trop. 2: 164 (1992)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Kenya to N. Tanzania. It is a hemiparasitic epiphyte and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Loranthaceae, Polhill & D. Wiens. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1999

Morphology General Habit
Shrub to 1 m. or so; branchlets slightly compressed to 4-angular, then terete, glabrous, ± densely lenticellate.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate to opposite; petiole to 2(–4) mm. long; lamina thinly coriaceous, dark green, sometimes red-veined, elliptic-lanceolate to ovate-elliptic, 4–10 cm. long, 2.5–6 cm. wide, subacute to obtuse or shortly rounded at the apex, broadly cuneate to rounded at the base, glabrous, rather inconspicuously penninerved with lower pair of nerves stronger and ascending to upper half.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers clustered in axils and at older nodes below, subsessile; bract cupular with a small triangular limb, 2.5–3 mm. long, ciliolate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Receptacle
Receptacle 1–1.5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx slightly funnel-shaped, 2–2.5 mm. long, subtruncate, ciliolate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla (3.5–)4–5 cm. long, with yellow-orange tube banded green and orange-red at top, lobes paler pinkish white over vents, with red to purple tips; apical swelling of bud slight, oblong, 6 mm. long, 1.5 mm. in diameter; basal swelling 5–6 mm. long, 2.5–3 mm. in diameter, with tube narrowly constricted for 4–6 mm. above; lobes erect, 8–9 mm. long, with the upper two-thirds linear-oblanceolate, slightly keeled and slightly hardened inside.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Filaments red, slender, involute, scarcely corrugated, but apical 0.5–0.7 mm. smooth, pale, hardened; anthers 2–2.5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Style green, slender; stigma ovoid-conic, 0.8–1 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Berry not seen.
Habitat
Montane moist and upland dry evergreen forest, recorded on Olea, Strombosia and various Rutaceae; 1650–2400 m.
Distribution
K4 T2 T6 not known elsewhere (but see note)
[FTEA]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/179634/1584825

Conservation
VU - vulnerable
[IUCN]

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: low confidence
[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/

  • 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