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, (1976) Author: B. VERDCOURT
Names
CRATERISPERMUM schweinfurthii Hiern [family RUBIACEAE], in F.T.A. 3: 162 (1877); K. Schum. in P.O.A. C: 386 (1895); F.P.S. 2: 433 (1952); Verdc. in K.B. 28: 434 (1974). Type: Sudan, Equatoria [Niamniam], Khor Bodo, Schweinfurth 2935 (K, holo.!)
CRATERISPERMUM sp. [family RUBIACEAE], sensu T.T.C.L.: 493 (1949)
CRATERISPERMUM laurinum [family RUBIACEAE], [sensu I.T.U., ed. 2: 341 (1952); Brenan in Mem. N.Y. Bot. Gard. 8: 453 (1954); K.T.S.: 437 (1961); F.F.N.R.: 405 (1962), non (Poir.) Benth.]
Information
Shrub or small to medium tree 1.8–15 m. tall, glabrous; bark greyish white, warty with old swollen nodes. Leaf-blades elliptic, oblong, obovate or oblanceolate, usually yellow-green when dry, (5–)7–17 cm. long, 2–7.3 cm. wide, ± obtuse to distinctly shortly acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, often ± coriaceous; venation closely reticulate; petiole 1–1.7 cm. long; stipules 2.5–5 mm. long, the thicker deltoid part often with a few stiff hairs at its apex. Inflorescences supra-axillary (sometimes only slightly so), compact and subcapitate, several-flowered; peduncles mostly stout, compressed, 2–10 mm. long, thickened apically; bracts and bracteoles triangular, keeled, ± 1.5 mm. long, acuminate, very congested. Calyx-tube 0.7–1.5 mm. long; limb 0.9–1.4 mm. long, slightly toothed, the teeth 0.3–0.5 mm. long. Corolla white, sometimes tinged pink in bud, sweetly scented; tube 3.5–5.6 mm. long, densely hairy inside at the throat; lobes oblong-lanceolate to oblong-ovate, 3–5.8 mm. long, hairy inside at least at the base. Anthers with tips just exserted in long-styled flowers, completely exserted and reaching to or nearly to the tips of the corolla-lobes in short-styled flowers. Style 7–7.5 mm. long in long-styled flowers, well exserted, 2.6–4 mm. long in short-styled flowers, included; stigma-lobes linear-clavate, 1.3–2.5 mm. long. Fruit brown when dry but described as green or black, subglobose or ellipsoid, 5–6 (–7 in spirit material) mm. long and wide, sessile. Seeds dark brown, shining, bowl-shaped, longest dimension 3.4 mm., shorter dimension 2 mm., the depression deep and rounded. Fig. 16, p. 163.
Range
DISTR. U1–4; K5; T1, 4, 6–8; P
Altitude range
(0–)1050–1500 m.
Distribution
KENYA N. Kavirondo District Kakamega Forest, 3 Dec. 1962, Ormiston in E.A.H. 343/62! & same locality, Holyoak in F.D. 2780! & same locality, June 1961, Lucas 280!TANZANIA Bukoba District Bugandika, Sept. 1931, Haarer 2170!TANZANIA Ulanga District Lukoga Forest Reserve, 4 Nov. 1961, Semsei 3387!TANZANIA Rungwe District Masukulu [Mwasukulu], 18 Nov. 1912, Stolz 1688!TANZANIA Pemba I., Ngezi Forest, 18 Feb. 1929, Greenway 1482!UGANDA W. Nile District Koboko, Feb. 1934, Eggeling 1527!UGANDA Bunyoro District Bujenje, Feb. 1943, Purseglove 1265!UGANDA Mengo District Entebbe Bay, Kyiwaga Forest, 22 Sept. 1949, Dawkins 393!
Distribution (external)
Nigeria
Cameroun
Central African Republic
Zaire
Burundi
Sudan
Ethiopia
Mozambique
Malawi
Zambia
Rhodesia (see note)
Angola
Notes
The type of C. schweinfurthii is actually not “typical” of the species (although other Schweinfurth specimens are) and has a peduncle about 10 mm. long; specimens from Pemba have peduncles 9 mm. long. Besides the Pemba specimens there is another low altitude one (Mgaza 785—Bagamoyo District, Bana Forest Reserve, 29 Oct. 1965) but there seems to be no reason to separate them. The apparent absence from T3, Usambaras, is rather remarkable. Jefford & Newbould 1701 (Mpanda District, Mahali Mts., Utahya, 21 Aug. 1958) has one inflorescence with the bracts drawn out into an acumen 5–6 mm. long on each side but the other inflorescences are typical. C. cerinanthum Hiern, a W. African species with mostly longer slender peduncles, more slender often divided inflorescences and less coriaceous, less reticulate often more acuminate leaves, might be no more than a subspecies. Some Angolan specimens are difficult to place. C. laurinum (Poir.) Benth., with which the East African plant has almost invariably been identified, differs in having the fruits distinctly shortly pedicellate; also the peduncles are longer, the inflorescence often branched, the leaves blunter and the calyx-limb mostly truncate. Only one sheet from the hundreds referred to C. schweinfurthii has had distinct pedicels, namely Mavi 835 (Rhodesia, Melsetter, Lusitu R., 8 Jan. 1969), but it can scarcely be referred to C. laurinum.