Baikiaea insignis

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Baikiaea insignis
Baikiaea insignis f4.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Baikiaea
Species:
B. insignis
Binomial name
Baikiaea insignis
Bentham

Baikiaea insignis is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae.

Baikiaea insignis ranges through the Guineo-Congolian region into eastern Africa, from Senegal through Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Angola, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania. [1] It has very large flowers; the four white petals each being up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long and up to 7 cm (2.8 in) wide, with the yellow fifth petal only half as big. With a total width of 40 cm (16 in) it is possibly the widest flower in Africa, and among the largest known tree-borne flowers, [2] (but also see Pachira insignis ).

Baikiaea insignis is found in a range of plant communities, from sea level up to 1,800 metres elevation. It is found in rainforests, periodically flooded riparian forests with Uapaca heudelotii and Irvingia smithii , gallery forests, upland and mountain forests, and swamp forests. [3]

Baikiaea insignis subsp. minor, commonly known as Nkobakoba or Nkoba, is a subspecies found in Bukoba district of Tanzania and the South Buddu forests of Uganda. [4] B. insignis minor and Afrocarpus dawei are the dominant canopy trees in Minziro and Sango Bay forests, a distinctive swamp forest community found along the lower reaches of the Kagera River west of Lake Victoria, on the border of Tanzania and Uganda. [5]

References

  1. "Baikiaea insignis." Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2020-03-17. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Baikiaea+insignis>
  2. Everard, Barbara; Morley, Brian D. (1970). Wild Flowers of the World. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. Plate 54.
  3. "Baikiaea insignis." Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2020-03-17. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Baikiaea+insignis>
  4. Chudnoff, Martin. "Baikiaea insignis subsp. minor (Family: Leguminosae) Nkobakoba" (PDF). Technology Transfer Factsheets - Centre for Wood Anatomy Research. USDA Forest Service. Retrieved 28 April 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. Kamukala, G. L., and S. A. Crafter, eds. (1993). Wetlands of Tanzania: Proceedings of a Seminar on the Wetlands of Tanzania, Morogoro, Tanzania, 27–29 November 1991. Volume 10 of The IUCN Wetlands Programme. IUCN, 1993.