Mundulea sericea

Last updated

Mundulea sericea
Mundulea sericea, blomme, Manie vd Schijff BT, a.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Mundulea
Species:
M. sericea
Binomial name
Mundulea sericea
(Willd.) A.Chev.

Mundulea sericea, the cork bush, is an attractive shrub or small tree which is found in relatively open woodlands of Africa and South Asia. It is the only member of the genus with a range extending beyond Madagascar, [1] and it resembles some African shrubs in the related genus Tephrosia .

Contents

Range

The species occurs commonly in Madagascar, southern to central Africa, India and Sri Lanka. [2] At its southern limit it is found in northern KwaZulu-Natal and northwards of the Vaal River, South Africa. [3] It has a preference for rocky slopes but is also found in savannah. The subspecies native to Madagascar is sometimes assigned to a separate species, Mundulea striata .

Description

The compound, alternate leaves are covered in silky hairs. The papilionaceous flowers are mauve to purple in colour. [2] The seed pods are up to 8 cm long, and are covered in golden brown, velvety hairs. These hairs turn grey with time, and the pods may remain on the tree up to the next flowering season, or longer. The bark of the stem and main branches is deeply grooved and corky, and contains the poison rotenone. The leaves are however browsed by animals. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cussonia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Cussonia is a genus of plants of the family Araliaceae, which is native to the Afrotropics. It originated in Africa and has its center of distribution in South Africa and the Mascarene Islands. Due to their striking habit, they are a conspicuous and easily recognizable group of plants. Their genus name commemorates the botanist Pierre Cusson. The Afro-Malagasy and Asian Schefflera, and Afrotropical Seemannaralia genera are related taxa that share several of its morphological characteristics, among which the leaves borne on the end of branches, inflorescences carried on terminal branches or stems, and reduced leaf complexity in developing inflorescences.

<i>Leucosidea</i> Genus of flowering plants

Leucosidea sericea, commonly known as oldwood, is an evergreen tree or large shrub that grows in the highland regions of southern Africa. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus Leucosidea. The name oldwood may reflect the fact that the wood burns slowly, as if old and rotting; the gnarled, twisted trunks reinforce this impression.

<i>Protea angolensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Protea angolensis is also known as the Angolan protea, northern protea or northern sugarbush. In Afrikaans it is known as the noordelijke suikerbos. This is a dwarf, multistemmed shrub or small straggling tree occurring in open wooded grassland and miombo.

<i>Protea gaguedi</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea gaguedi is a species of tree which belongs to the genus Protea.

<i>Protea welwitschii</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea welwitschii is a species of shrub or small tree which belongs to the genus Protea, and which occurs in bushveld and different types of grassland.

<i>Baikiaea plurijuga</i> Species of legume

Baikiaea plurijuga, known as African teak, Mukusi, Rhodesian teak, Zambian teak or Zambesi redwood, is a species of Afrotropical tree from the legume family, the Fabaceae from southern Africa.

<i>Aeschynomene elaphroxylon</i> Species of legume

Aeschynomene elaphroxylon, also known as an ambatch, pith-tree, balsa wood tree, or umburu, is a common large shrub to small tree of the genus Aeschynomene in the family Fabaceae growing in swamps, lakes and rivers in Tropical Africa. It grows two to nine, exceptionally up to twelve, metres high, with a straight, thick, swollen, conical trunk. This is an unusual leguminous tree in that it grows in water as a freshwater mangrove, with an extremely lightweight wood acting as a float and a specialised root system sprouting from the trunk which forms a tangled web hanging through the water and sprawling through the mud. It has adventitious roots and roots which are differentiated into special structures adapted to the swamp environment. It can even grow as floating islands of drifting forests.

<i>Capparis tomentosa</i> Species of fruit and plant

Capparis tomentosa, the woolly caper bush or African caper, is a plant in the Capparaceae family and is native to Africa.

<i>Capparis fascicularis</i> Species of flowering plant

Capparis fascicularis, the zigzag caper-bush, is a plant in the Capparaceae family and is native to Africa.

<i>Croton gratissimus</i> Species of shrub

Croton gratissimus, is a tropical African shrub or small tree with corky bark, growing to 8 m and belonging to the family of Euphorbiaceae or spurges. Young twigs are slender and angular and covered in silver and rust-coloured scales.

<i>Erianthemum dregei</i> Species of mistletoe

Erianthemum dregei is a species of parasitic plant in the family Loranthaceae, and is commonly known as the hairy mistletoe or wood flower.

<i>Erythrina latissima</i> Species of legume

The broad-leaved coral tree is a deciduous tree from southern Africa growing 5 to 8 m tall. It is a member of the Fabaceae and occurs naturally in the Afrotemperate mist-belt of South Africa and Eswatini to the uplands of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and adjacent Botswana. It is often cultivated as a tree for gardens and parks. In Zimbabwe its range overlaps with the similar Erythrina abyssinica.

<i>Entandrophragma caudatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Entandrophragma caudatum, or mountain mahogany, is a large Southern African tree belonging to the mahogany family and found in eastern and north eastern South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Angola, the Caprivi Strip region of Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. Kew currently recognises 12 other species of Entandrophragma, all with a tropical and sub-tropical African distribution.

<i>Hymenodictyon parvifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Hymenodictyon parvifolium Oliv. is a small rubiaceous African tree and is one of some 24 species in the genus, with a tropical African and Asian distribution. This species grows as a small tree to some 5 metres tall, or sometimes a liane or scrambler to 10.5 m, and is found in low-altitude woodland.

<i>Cadaba aphylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Cadaba aphylla ("Swartstorm") is one of the many species in the genus Cadaba. It is indigenous to southern Africa.

Balanites pedicellaris, the small green-thorn or small torchwood is a small tree or shrub from Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a member of the caltrop family Zygophyllaceae.

<i>Drypetes arguta</i> Species of tree

Drypetes arguta, commonly known as the water ironplum, is a species of small tree or large bush in the family Putranjivaceae. It is native to tropical East Africa. It was first described in 1920 by the English botanist John Hutchinson, who named it Cyclostemon argutus. It was later transferred to the genus Drypetes.

Vachellia kirkii, widely known as Acacia kirkii but now attributed to the genus Vachellia, is a tree native to tropical Africa. It is commonly known as the flood plain acacia.

<i>Gardenia volkensii</i> Species of plant

Gardenia volkensii, commonly known as bushveldt gardenia or Transvaal gardenia, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae native to southern Africa.

<i>Ruspolia</i> (plant) Genus of plants

Ruspolia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae.

References

  1. Hyde, M.A.; Wursten, B.T.; Ballings, P.; Coates Palgrave, M. "3719.000 Mundulea (DC.) Benth., Description of the genus". Flora of Zimbabwe. zimbabweflora.co.zw. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 Hyde, M.A.; Wursten, B.T.; Ballings, P.; Coates Palgrave, M. "Mundulea sericea (Willd.) A. Chev". Flora of Zimbabwe. zimbabweflora.co.zw. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 Algemene gids tot BOME. Keith, Paul & Meg Coates Palgrave. 2000. ISBN 1-86872-527-8