Marantochloa purpurea | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Zingiberales |
Family: | Marantaceae |
Genus: | Marantochloa |
Species: | M. purpurea |
Binomial name | |
Marantochloa purpurea (Ridl.) Milne-Redh. | |
Marantochloa purpurea is a species of plant in the family Marantaceae. It is found in tropical Africa, [1] where its natural habitat is moist lowland forest. The leaf stems are used for various purposes including making string, baskets, mats and traps and the leaves are used for thatching, and for wrapping objects.
Marantochloa purpurea is a large, sometimes climbing, herb which grows to a height of 3 m (10 ft) or more. The much-branched stems grow from an extensive rhizome. The leaves are borne on petioles up to 80 cm (30 in) long, that sheath the stem for about half of their length. The leaf blades are large and ovate, but asymmetrical, with rounded bases and pointed tips, the under surfaces sometimes being purplish. The inflorescence is a lax, apical, branching panicle. [2] In West Africa and in Angola, the flowers are purple, while plants growing in Uganda and Tanzania have pale pink flowers. [3] The fruit is a red, three-lobed capsule containing three brown seeds. [2]
Marantochloa purpurea is native to tropical and subtropical, sub-Saharan Africa, its range extending from Sierra Leone to South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda, and southward to Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania, [1] at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (5,000 ft). It grows in both primary and secondary forests, and in swamp and gallery forest, as well as seasonally flooded areas, and even in moist conditions by the roadside. [2]
The stems of this plant are used for making cord for tying and plaiting, and in the making of baskets, mats and traps, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the bark is used for similar purposes. The leaves are used for thatching and for wrapping objects; in West Africa, for wrapping cola nuts and preventing them from becoming desiccated, while in Central African Republic, for wrapping cassava cakes. [2] The leaves are gathered from the wild and sold at markets. The pith from inside the stems is used to make brooms, and various parts of the plant are used in traditional medicine. [2]
Oreobambos buchwaldii is the sole representative of Oreobambos, a monotypic African genus of bamboo, most closely related to the large genus Bambusa from tropical Asia and America. It is large and perennial with arching stems up to 20 m. high, growing in isolated clumps, in forest clearings and swamp forest, and along streams, at altitudes of 300–2000 m. It occurs along the tropical east of Africa in eastern DR Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia. This is one of only a handful of indigenous African bamboos.
The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions of Africa are discontinuous, separated from each other by lower-lying areas, and are sometimes referred to as the Afromontane archipelago, as their distribution is analogous to a series of sky islands.
The crowned bullfrog is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae. It is found in the Sub-Saharan Africa . Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, intermittent rivers, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, heavily degraded former forest, and ponds.
The purple-throated cuckooshrike is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The yellow-bellied wattle-eye is a species of bird in the family Platysteiridae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The small-footed shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.
The turbo shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The climbing shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae, which is found in subtropical Africa. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and moist savanna.
The large-eared free-tailed bat is a species of bat in the family Molossidae found in Angola, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and possibly Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, dry savanna, arable land, and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Lord Derby's scaly-tailed squirrel is an anomalurid rodent native to Africa. It was named after Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby.
Trithemis werneri is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Angola, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and rivers.
Monodora myristica, the calabash nutmeg, is a tropical tree of the family Annonaceae or custard apple family of flowering plants. It is native to Angola, Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. In former times, its seeds were widely sold as an inexpensive nutmeg substitute. This is now less common outside its region of production. Other names of calabash nutmeg include Jamaican nutmeg, African nutmeg, ehuru, ariwo, awerewa, ehiri, airama, African orchid nutmeg, muscadier de Calabash and lubushi.
Eremospatha is a genus of climbing flowering plants in the palm family found in tropical Africa. These rattans are uncommon in cultivation and poorly understood by taxonomists;. Closely related to Laccosperma, they differentiated by the near complete absence of bracts and bracteoles. The name is from Greek meaning "without a spathe".
Psilolemma is a genus of plants in the grass family. The only known species is Psilolemma jaegeri, native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Kallimoides is a monotypic genus of butterflies in the family Nymphalidae. It contains only one species, Kallimoides rumia, the African leaf butterfly. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Bioko, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. The habitat consists of forests.
Costus spectabilis, commonly known as the yellow trumpet, is an African, gregarious species of herb; low and perennial, it is found from Sierra Leone to Sudan to as far south as Angola and Zimbabwe.
Raphia farinifera is a tropical African palm tree occurring in lowland riparian and swamp forest, also around human habitations and cultivated locations, on stream banks and other moist situations at altitudes of 50–1000 m. Found in Angola, Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Réunion, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and naturalised in Madagascar. Its genus is derived from 'raphis' = needle, probably in reference to the 4 mm long yellowish spines on the margins and main veins of the leaflets. The specific name refers to a type of starchy flour obtained from the trunk pith – 'farina' = starch, 'fera' = bearing.
Megaphrynium macrostachyum is a species of large plant in the Marantaceae family native to tropical Africa. It grows in moist places and regenerates rapidly after ground disturbance or fire. The long stems have various uses in making cord, baskets and mats, and the large leaves are used for wrapping food, for making utensils and containers, and in herbal medicine.
Haumania liebrechtsiana is a species of plant in the family Marantaceae. It grows as an understorey herb or climber in tropical forests in Central Africa. The leaves and shoots are eaten by gorillas and chimpanzees, and the leaves and stems have traditional uses.
Barteria fistulosa is a species of tree in the family Passifloraceae, native to tropical Central Africa. The tree has an association with an aggressive species of ant with a very painful sting, which lives in its hollow branches and twigs, and gives rise to its common name of "ant tree".
![]() | Wikispecies has information related to Marantochloa purpurea . |