Compilation
Brachystegia spiciformis

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Name

Identification
Brachystegia spiciformis Benth. [family LEGUMINOSAE ]
Related name
  • Brachystegia spiciformis

Flora

Entry for BRACHYSTEGIA spiciformis Benth. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of Tropical East Africa, page 1, (1967) Author: J. P. M. Brenan
Names
BRACHYSTEGIA spiciformis Benth. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in Trans. Linn. Soc. 25: 312 (1865); F.T.A. 2: 306 (1871); Burtt Davy & Hutch, in K.B. 1923: 159 (1923), pro parte, excl. Welwitsch 580 (BM, COI & K); L.T.A.: 727 (1930), excl. syn. B. manga; C. H. N. Jackson in Journ. S. Afr. Bot. 6: 39 (1940); B. D. Burtt in Journ. Ecol. 30: 74–78, 82–85, 111, 117, 141, 142, t. 2 (1942); T.T.C.L.: 92 (1949); Hoyle in F.C.B. 3: 452, fig. 38, t. 32 (1952); K.T.S.: 97, fig. 19 (1961); Hoyle & White in F.F.N.R.: 107, 117, 118, fig. 23, t. 1/H (1962). Type: Angola, Huila, Mumpulla-Nene, Welwitsch 578 (LISU, holo.!, BM, iso.!)
BRACHYSTEGIA appendiculata Benth. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in Trans. Linn. Soc. 25: 313, t. 42 (1865). Type: Malawi, Zomba District, Magamero, Meller (K, holo. !, FHO, photo. !)
BRACHYSTEGIA itoliensis Taub. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in P.O. A. C: 197 (1895); Burtt Davy & Hutch, in K.B. 1923: 158 (1923); L.T.A.: 726 (1930). Type: Tanganyika, Bukoba District, Itolio, Stuhlmann 925 (B, holo. !, K, photo. !)
BRACHYSTEGIA oliveri Taub. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in P.O.A. C: 197 (1895); Burtt Davy & Hutch, in K.B. 1923: 159 (1923); L.T.A.: 728 (1930). Type: Kenya, Mombasa, Wakefield in Schweinfurth (? B, holo. †, K, iso. !)
BRACHYSTEGIA mpalensis Micheli [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in Compt. Rend. Soc. Bot. Belg. 36: 73 (1897). Type: Congo Republic, Baudouinville District, Mpala [Pala], Descamps 27 (BR, lecto. !, K, photo. !)
BRACHYSTEGIA randii Bak. f. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in J.B. 37: 433 (1899); Burtt Davy & Hutch. in K.B. 1923: 160, fig. 5 (1923), pro parte, excl. legumina et specim. fruct. Rand 611; L.T.A.: 727 (1930). Type: Rhodesia, Salisbury, Rand 610 (BM, lecto. !)
BRACHYSTEGIA euryphylla Harms [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in E.J. 30: 82 (1901); Burtt Davy & Hutch. in K.B. 1923: 162 (1923); L.T.A.: 730 (1930). Type: Tanganyika, Morogoro District, E. Ukami, Stuhlmann 8666 (B, holo.!, K, photo. !)
BRACHYSTEGIA hockii De Wild [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in F.R. 11: 512 (1913). Type: Congo Republic, Haut Katanga, Hock (BR, holo. !, FHO, drawing!, K, photo. !)
BRACHYSTEGIA edulis Burtt Davy & Hutch. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in K.B. 1923: 162 (1923); T.S.K.: 50, 109 (1926); L.T.A.: 727 (1930); T.S.K.: 63 (1936). Type: Zambia, Batoka Highlands, Kirk (K, holo. !)
BRACHYSTEGIA taubertiana Burtt Davy & Hutch. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in K.B. 1923: 150, fig. 8 (1923); L.T.A.: 731 (1930). Type: Tanganyika, Tanga District, Doda, Holst 3023 (K, holo.!, ? B, iso. †)
BRACHYSTEGIA venosa Burtt Davy & Hutch. [family LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINIOIDEAE], in K.B. 1923: 158, fig. 2 (1923), excl. cit. Uganda (potius NE. Zambia); L.T.A.: 729 (1930), haud tamen syn. B. lujae. Type: Zambia/Rhodesia, near Victoria Falls, Allen 165 (K, holo. !, PRE, iso. !)
Information
Tree 5–25 m. high to stunted treelet of 1–4 m.; young bark smooth, grey to whitish, becoming rough, reticulately or vertically fissured, grey or brownish, shedding slowly in thick rectangular or irregular scales; crown rounded to spreading, flatter with age; foliage spreading to pendulous, maturing dark green, shiny when glabrous. Stipules free, filiform to linear, 0.5–3 cm. long, usually caducous; auricle 0, or a lateral tooth only, to irregularly reniform or subfoliaceous. Leaves glabrous to tomentose, with 2–6(–7) pairs of leaflets; petiole (0.5–)1–3(–4) cm. long; rhachis (3–)5–15(–18) cm. long, channelled at least below each pair of leaflets and there provided with stipellar expansions, which are oblong to subfoliaceous, often with free apices (stipels) directed forwards; leaflets (1–)2–8(–10) × (0.5–)1–4(–5) cm., subcircular to narrowly ovate or oblong-elliptic to narrowly obovate, emarginate to acuminate at apex, subsymmetrical to very oblique and cordate to cuneate at base; midrib central to very excentric; basal fanwise nerves (3–)4–5(–6); upper surface maturing reticulate and shining, less with age. Racemes (very rarely branched) terminal, up to 6 × 4.5 cm., glabrous to tomentose. Flowers green with white filaments and red anthers; pedicels usually slender, inserted in a close spiral or subverticillate, their scars persistent on the fruiting axis; bracteoles (4–)5–10(–12) × (3–)4–5(–6) mm. Tepals 0 or l–2(–4), usually unequal and narrow or rudimentary, inserted well apart. Stamens ± 10; filaments 8–15(–18) mm. long, connate at base; staminal tube (1–)2–7 mm. long, entire or split, usually subequal to or longer than the tepals. Ovary 2–4 × 1–1.5 mm., ± crispate-setose; style 8–15(–20) mm. long, stigma usually prominent. Pod thinly woody, up to 16.5(–20) × 4.5(–5.5) cm., smooth, usually maturing mid-brown to yellowish and ± shiny; sutural wings spreading, each 4–8 mm. broad; apical beak exceptionally long. Figs. 36, 37 (p. 171).
Range
DISTR. K7; T1–8
Altitude range
from 15 m. altitude on sandy areas near the coast to 2350 m. on ridges and escarpments.
Distribution
KENYA Kwale District E. of Kwale Boma, fl. 15 Dec. 1956, Greenway 9657 !KENYA Kilifi District Sokoke Forest, fl. 27 Feb. 1945, Jeffery 102 ! & W. of Kikuyuni, fr. 19 Sept. 1958, Moomaw 940!TANGANYIKA Mpanda District Kwasimba, fl. 9 Aug. 1948, Semsei 38 in F.H. 2470 !TANGANYIKA Kondoa District Bereku ridge, S. scarp, fl. & fr. 1 Oct. 1951, Hughes 126 !TANGANYIKA Rungwe District Masukulu, fl. 18 Nov. 1912, Stolz 1692 !
Distribution (external)
; Congo Republic
Mozambique
Malawi
Zambia
Rhodesia
Angola
Notes
VARIATION. Figures 36 and 37 show part only of the remarkable variation in size, shape and spacing of pairs of leaflets. Glabrous and pubescent forms seem to be mixed in all populations; thus, e.g. B. D. Burtt 5294 & 5296 (Tanganyika, Singida–Kondoa, Rift scarp, fl. Oct. 1935) have hairy and glabrous leaves respectively; Hoyle 1093 & 1092 (Tanganyika, Njombe–Songea, 40–50 km., fr. 24 July 1949) are a similar pair from adjacent trees. Extreme hairiness is, however, usually associated with high altitude and exposure. Racemes are usually hairy but often combined with glabrous leaves. Early, widely scattered gatherings, showing various combinations of characters, were made the basis of separate species now relegated to synonomy, but known combinations of characters are now becoming so numerous that even the definition of subspecies and varieties seems increasingly futile. On the whole, fewer ovate leaflets predominate in W. and SW. Tanganyika while rather more leaflets, with the distal pair tending to be obovate, occur mainly in NE. Tanganyika and Kenya; in the same direction the length of the stamina! tube and of the petiole tend to decrease. There are, however, numerous exceptions and almost identical forms occur hundreds of miles apart. Depauperate, apparently distinct local forms such as “ B. itoliensia ” near Lake Victoria and “ B. oliveri ” in Kenya and Tanga Province are associated with exceptional soil and climate at the limits of range but intergrade with the general population. In many places, some of the variation (especially narrow, pointed leaflets) may well be accounted for by introgressive hybridization, notably with sp. 5, B. microphylla (see 5 × 1 under the latter). Naturally enough, hybrids with B. microphylla are relatively easy to detect because of wide differences in obvious characters like the number, shape and size of leaflets and the nature of the inflorescence and flowers; this may partly account for their relative frequency among available specimens because they puzzle collectors. Rare putative hybrids with spp. 2, B. bussei and 3, B. utilis are cited under these species.Hybrids with species in Group B, although theoretically improbable, are suspected (see under spp. 12, B. × longifolia and 14, B. wangermeeana).

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