Compilation
Leucothoe salicifolia

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Name

Identification
Isotype of Andromeda salicifolia Lam. [family ERICACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Commerson, Isotype of Leucothoe salicifolia (Lam.) DC [family ERICACEAE ] Isotype of Agarista salicifolia (Lam.) G.Don [family ERICACEAE ] Isotype of Agauria salicifolia (Comm. ex Lam.) Hook.f. ex Oliv. [family ERICACEAE ] Verified by Daveau, J.,
Related name
  • Agarista salicifolia
  • Leucothoe salicifolia
  • Andromeda salicifolia
  • Agauria salicifolia

Flora

Entry for Agarista salicifolia (Lam.) G.Don [family ERICACEAE]
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, (2006) Author: HENK BEENTJE
Names
Agarista salicifolia (Lam.) G.Don [family ERICACEAE], Gen. Syst. 3: 837 (1834); Hedberg & Hedberg in Fl. Eth. 4, 1: 48, fig. 133.2 (2003). Type: Réunion [I. Bourbon], Commerson s.n. (P-LAM, holo.; BM, iso.)
Andromeda salicifolia Lam. [family ERICACEAE], Encycl. Méth. 1: 159 (1783), as salicisfolia; Hook. in Curtis Bot. Mag. 60: t. 3286 (1833)
Andromeda pyrifolia Pers. [family ERICACEAE], Syn. Pl. 1: 481 (1805). Type: Réunion, Aubert s.n. (not at BM or L)
Leucothoe salicifolia (Lam.) DC. [family ERICACEAE], Prodr. 7: 602 (1839)
Leucothoe salicifolia (Pers.) DC. var. pyrifolia [family ERICACEAE], Prodr. 7: 603 (1839)
Agauria salicifolia (Lam.) Oliv. [family ERICACEAE], F.T.A. 3: 483 (1877); Z.A.E.: 509 (1914); Sleumer in E.J. 69: 381 (1938); T.T.C.L.: 189 (1949); K.T.S.: 178 (1961); F.P.U.: 114 (1962); Ross in F.W.T.A. ed. 2, 2: 2 (1963); Verdcourt & Trump, Common Poison. Pl. E.A.: 117 (1969); Letouzey in Fl. Cam. 11: 188 (1970); Hamilton, Uganda For. Trees: 159 (1981); Ross in F.Z. 7(1): 158, t. 26 (1983); K.T.S.L.: 443, fig., map (1994)
Agauria salicifolia (Pers.) Oliv. var. pyrifolia [family ERICACEAE], F.T.A. 3: 483 (1877); Z.A.E.: 509 (1914); T.T.C.L.: 190 (1949)
Agauria salicifolia Engl. var. latissima [family ERICACEAE], in Hochgebirgsflora Trop. Afr.: 324 (1892); P.O.A. C: 301 (1895); T.T.C.L.: 190 (1949). Type: Tanzania, Kilimanjaro, between Marangu and Machame [Madschame], Meyer 312 (B†, holo.)
Agauria goetzei Engl. [family ERICACEAE], in E.J. 30: 369 (1901). Type: Tanzania, Rungwe District: Ngosi/Poroto Crater, Goetze 1299 (B†, holo.; BR!, iso.)
Agauria salicifolia Sleumer forma adenantha [family ERICACEAE], in E.J. 69: 390 (1938); T.T.C.L.: 190 (1949). Type: Tanzania, Njombe District: Likanga on upper Ruhudje, Schlieben 223, 1161a (B†, holo.)
Agauria salicifolia Sleumer var. intercedens [family ERICACEAE], in E.J. 69: 390 (1938); T.T.C.L.: 190 (1949). Type: Tanzania, Pare District: S Pare Mts, Tona, Peter 8833 (B†, holo.)
Agauria salicifolia Sleumer forma glandulosa [family ERICACEAE], in E.J. 69: 391 (1938); T.T.C.L.: 190 (1949). Type as for A. goetzei Engl.
Agauria salicifolia Sleumer subvar. reducta [family ERICACEAE], in E.J. 69: 391 (1938); T.T.C.L.: 190 (1949). Type: Tanzania, Kilimanjaro, above Bismarck Hill, Peter 916 (B†, holo.)
Agauria salicifolia Brenan subvar. parvifolia [family ERICACEAE], T.T.C.L.: 190 (1949), nomen nudum
Information
Evergreen shrub or tree 0.9– 20 m, much branched; bole occasionally large, up to 60 cm across; bark grey to brown, corky, fissured; branchlets glabrous to pubescent with simple hairs, sometimes mixed with glandular hairs, young shoots reddish. Leaves entire, rather leathery, dark green above, whitish to blue-grey and matte beneath, lanceolate, elliptic or oblong, rarely broadly elliptic or ovate, 2– 10(– 16) cm long, 0.5– 4(– 7.5) cm wide, base cuneate to subcordate, margins entire, apex rounded to mucronate or acuminate, glabrous except for the midrib underneath; petiole 0.5– 1 cm, glabrous or pubescent. Inflorescence of axillary and terminal racemes 5– 15 cm long with 15– 35 flowers; pedicel 2– 6 mm long, pubescent, rarely glabrous; bracteoles 1– 1.5 mm long, pubescent. Calyx green to reddish, fused in the lower 1/3; lobes triangular, 2.5 mm long, sparsely pubescent with ciliate margins. Corolla pale green or greenish yellow or yellow to creamy white, less often reddish or white with red streaks or yellow tinged with red at base, obconical to slightly urceolate, 7– 10 mm long, 4– 5 mm in diameter, with 5 triangular lobes 0.7– 0.8 mm long, glabrous. Stamens 9– 10, orange, the filaments pubescent and geniculate. Ovary globose, ± 2 mm in diameter, sparsely pubescent; style 1, glabrous, 6– 8 mm long; stigma small, capitate. Capsule dark green turning reddish, 4– 7 mm in diameter, with persistent style. Fig. 1.
Range
DISTR. U 1– 3; K 1– 7; T 2– 8 widespread in tropical Africa from Cameroon to north-east Africa and south to Zambia; Madagascar, Mascarene Is.
Altitude range
(1050– )1550– 3500 m
Distribution
KENYA Northern Frontier District Nyiro, July 1960, Kerfoot 1970!KENYA Meru District Nyambeni Hills, S of Kirima, Oct. 1960, Polhill & Verdcourt 302!KENYA Teita District Taita Hills, Sagala, May 1985, Taita Hills Expedition 31!TANZANIA Kilimanjaro, between Bismarck and Horombo Huts, no date, Mwasumbi & Telecki Expedition 14066!TANZANIA Ufipa District Mbizi Forest Reserve, Oct. 1987, Ruffo & Kisena 2812!TANZANIA Iringa District Mt Image, Mar. 1962, Polhill & Paulo 1662a!UGANDA Karamoja District Kadam, Ilipath, Jan. 1957, Philip 812!UGANDA Kigezi District 7 km N of Mafuga Forest Station, Dec. 1971, Katende 1472!UGANDA Mbale District Bulambuli, Jan. 1936, Eggeling 2445!
Notes
USES. Leaves and roots poisonous to man and livestock; bark decoction used by Maasai to aid digestion after overeating meat; good firewoodCONSERVATION Widespread; least concern (LC) Sleumer in E.J. 69 (1938) recognises a large number of varieties, subvarieties and forms based on leaf size, leaf shape, and the presence/absence of glandular hairs. Many East African specimens have been named var. latissima, var. intercedens, or var. pyrifolia (which should really have been var. salicifolia ) with various subvars. and formae. This is a common taxon with wide distribution and resistance to fires; with the vast number of specimens now at hand there seem to be no discontinuity in variation. Specimens from large forest trees and those from shrubs in rocky sites can be virtually indistinguishable on a herbarium sheet. The only forms that are almost discontinuous (but not enough to warrant formal status) are:1. At higher altitudes (above 2900 m) the species is more often represented by a shrub with smaller leaves, and often with reddish flowers.2. There is a form with long hairs on the branchlets (forma adenantha Sleumer) which seems confined to rocky sites by waterfalls and stream-sides, but plants from the same habitat may be glabrous as well.I follow Ross in F.Z. in regarding the continental African material as a single variable species, without infraspecific splitting. Eggeling 6513 from T 7, foothills of Mt Rungwe, Kiwira River, is a small (30– 45 cm high) willow-like shrublet on vertical banks of deep-cut streams – although it is not clear from the label how close to the water – with drooping or creeping branches. Eggeling was certain that it was more than a variety, but leaf and inflorescence characters merge with those of the main population. Agauria goetzei Engl. in E.J. 30: 369 (1901). Type: Tanzania, upper Konde, Ngozi/Poroto Mts, Goetze 1299 (B†, holo.) is presumably this species, but the type has been destroyed. Engler said it differed in the long glandular hairs on the leaf, which would indeed be unusual for this taxon.

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