Berlinia

Berlinia Temporal range: Ypresian–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Flower of Berlinia confusa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Detarioideae
Tribe:	Amherstieae
Genus:	Berlinia Sol. ex Hook.f. & Benth. (1849), nom. cons.
Species [1]
21; see text
Synonyms [1]
Macroberlinia(Harms) Hauman (1952) WestiaVahl (1810), nom. rej.

Berlinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes 21 species of trees native to sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Guinea to Chad, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Angola. ^[1] All species of Berlinia have "explosive" pods, ^[2] casting the seeds, in the case of the recently discovered Berlinia korupensis , up to 50 metres away. ^[3]

Species of Berlina grow in the Guineo–Congolian forest of equatorial western and central Africa, and in the transitional forest–savanna mosaic belts north and south of the forest region. ^[1]

Fossil pollen attributable to the genus is known from the Eocene (Ypresian) of Africa. ^[4]

Species

21 species accepted by the Plants of the World Online as of August 2023: ^[1]

• Berlinia auriculata Benth. – Benin to Central African Republic and Republic of the Congo
• Berlinia bracteosa Benth. – southern Nigeria to Chad and Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Berlinia bruneelii (De Wild.) Torre & Hillc. – Cameroon and Central African Republic to Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola
• Berlinia confusa Hoyle – Sierra Leone to Cameroon and Republic of the Congo
• Berlinia congolensis (Baker f.) Keay – Nigeria to Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola
• Berlinia coriacea Keay – Nigeria to Central African Republic
• Berlinia craibiana Baker f. – Nigeria to Central African Republic and northern Angola
• Berlinia delevoyi De Wild. – Democratic Republic of the Congo and northeastern Angola
• Berlinia giorgii De Wild. – Nigeria and Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Zambia
• Berlinia grandiflora (Vahl) Hutch. & Dalziel – Guinea to Niger, Central African Republic, and Angola
• Berlinia hollandii Hutch. & Dalziel – southern Nigeria and Cameroon
• Berlinia immaculata Mackinder & Wieringa – Cameroon and Gabon
• Berlinia korupensis Mackinder & Burgt – western Cameroon
• Berlinia occidentalis Keay – Sierra Leone to Ghana
• Berlinia orientalis Brenan – Tanzania and Mozambique
• Berlinia phenacoa Mackinder – Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Berlinia rabiensis Mackinder – Gabon
• Berlinia razzifera Mackinder & Wieringa – Gabon
• Berlinia sapinii De Wild. – Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Berlinia tomentella Keay – Sierra Leone to Ghana and Cameroon
• Berlinia viridicans Baker f. – Gabon, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo

References

1. "Berlinia". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
2. Allen, O.N. and Ethel K. (1981). The Leguminosae - A Sourcebook of Characteristics, Uses and Nodulation. Madison, Wisconsin: Univ. Wisc. Press. p. 100. ISBN   0-299-08400-0.
3. "New to Nature No 11: Berlinia korupensis" The Observer 20 June 2010 Retrieved 20 June 2010
4. Romero, Ingrid C.; Kong, Shu; Fowlkes, Charless C.; Jaramillo, Carlos; Urban, Michael A.; Oboh-Ikuenobe, Francisca; D’Apolito, Carlos; Punyasena, Surangi W. (2020-11-10). "Improving the taxonomy of fossil pollen using convolutional neural networks and superresolution microscopy". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (45): 28496–28505. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11728496R. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2007324117 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   7668113 . PMID   33097671.

External links

• Berlinia grandiflora in West African plants – A Photo Guide.