Oxytenanthera | |
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Oxytenanthera abyssinica [1] | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Bambusoideae |
Tribe: | Bambuseae |
Subtribe: | Bambusinae |
Genus: | Oxytenanthera Munro |
Species: | O. abyssinica |
Binomial name | |
Oxytenanthera abyssinica | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Oxytenanthera is a genus of African bamboo. Bamboos are members of the grass family [3] [4] [5] Poaceae.
The only recognised species in this genus is Oxytenanthera abyssinica. [6] This species is found widespread across much of sub-Saharan Africa. In tropical Africa it is found outside of the humid forest zone from Senegal to Ethiopia. In Eastern Africa it is found to occur from Ethiopia all the way down to northern South Africa.
Oxytenanthera is the most common lowland bamboo in eastern and central Africa, resulting in its common name of African lowland bamboo. It is also referred to as savannah bamboo [7] or Bindura bamboo.
Oxytenanthera is widespread in the tropical parts of Africa. It occurs from The Gambia to Ethiopia, from Gabon to Kenya, and from Angola to Mozambique, and in the Limpopo Province in the northern parts of South Africa. [8]
Oxytenanthera prefers Miombo woodland habitat. [8]
The genus formerly contained several Asiatic species, but these are now generally considered to be better suited to other genera (primarily Dendrocalamus or Gigantochloa but see also Bambusa Cephalostachyum Pseudoxytenanthera Schizostachyum Yushania ); [9] However, molecular studies show species of Oxytenanthera quite distinct from Dendrocalamus spp.
Oxytenanthera abyssinica is a drought-resistant species of bamboo that grows in savanna woodland, semi-arid wooded grassland and thicket. It mass-flowers (gregarious flowering) after long periods of vegetative growth of more than 70 years before occasionally sets seed. The seed of Oxytenanthera abyssinica is considered rare. After setting seed the parent plant dies back, sometimes synchronously across large areas. The last known seeding period occurred in 2006 in West Africa [4] and 2010 in Ethiopia.
Traditional uses of Oxytenanthera abyssinica include weaving for basketry, as a building material for local construction, houses and furniture, and in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania in Iringa, Mbeya and Ruvuma Regions [10] it is tapped for its juice, and fermented for the production of a local alcoholic beverage.
However more recently the species has come under commercial production by EcoPlanet Bamboo. [11] Using seed from the most recent flowering event this entity has used Oxytenanthera abyssinica for the regeneration of degraded agricultural lands in South Africa's Eastern Cape.
Through EcoPlanet Bamboo's extensive R&D around this species and trials carried out to showcase its ability to restore degraded landscapes Oxytenanthera abyssinica has recently been touted by international institutions including the World Resources Institute as having a high potential for industrial production. [12]
Kenyan entity Kitil Farm [13] has developed a resource base of Oxytenanthera abyssinica seedlings in Isinya.
In South Africa, it is classified as Data Deficient: taxonomically problematic, which means it is likely to be threatened since its native habitat and range is under threat but it's not well-defined. [8]
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in the case of Dendrocalamus sinicus individual culms reaching a length of 46 meters, up to 36 centimeters in thickness and a weight of up to 450 kilograms. The internodes of bamboos can also be of great length. Kinabaluchloa wrayi has internodes up to 2.5 meters in length. and Arthrostylidium schomburgkii with lower internodes up to 5 meters in length, exceeded in length only by papyrus. By contrast, the culms of the tiny bamboo Raddiella vanessiae of the savannas of French Guiana are only 10–20 millimeters in length by about two millimeters in width. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, but it probably comes from the Dutch or Portuguese language, which originally borrowed it from Malay or Kannada.
The greater kudu is a large woodland antelope, found throughout eastern and southern Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas due to declining habitat, deforestation, and poaching. The greater kudu is one of two species commonly known as kudu, the other being the lesser kudu, T. imberbis.
Guizotia abyssinica is an erect, stout, branched annual herb, grown for its edible oil and seed. Its cultivation originated in the Eritrean and Ethiopian highlands, and has spread to other parts of Ethiopia. Common names include noog/nug ; ramtil or ramtilla; niger or nyger seed ; inga seed; and blackseed.
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Hagenia is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species Hagenia abyssinica, native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East Africa from Sudan and Ethiopia in the north, through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, to Malawi and Zambia in the south. A member of the rose family, its closest relative is the Afromontane genus Leucosidea.
Mount Rungwe is a volcanic mountain in Mbeya Region, in Tanzania's Southern Highlands. At an altitude of 2,981 metres (9,780 ft), it is southern Tanzania's second-highest peak. Rungwe's volcano is currently inactive.
Faidherbia is a genus of leguminous plants containing one species, Faidherbia albida, which was formerly widely included in the genus Acacia as Acacia albida. The species is native to Africa and the Middle East and has also been introduced to Pakistan and India. Common names include apple-ring acacia, white acacia, and winter thorn. The South African name is ana tree.
The buff-bellied warbler is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is monotypic within the genus Phyllolais. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, dry savanna, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
Aneilema is a genus of monocotyledonous plants of approximately 60 species. The vast majority of the species are native to sub-Saharan Africa, but a few are found in Oceania and one, Aneilema brasiliense, is from South America. It is the third largest genus in the family Commelinaceae after Commelina and Tradescantia, and it is one of only six genera in the family to occur in both the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere.
Hyparrhenia is a genus of grasses. Many species are known commonly as thatching grass.
Triraphis is a genus of African, Arabian, Australian, and Brazilian plants in the grass family. Needlegrass is a common name for plants in this genus.
Melanthera, is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to North and South America, as well as Africa, Asia and Oceania, including Hawaiʻi.
The Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion in Ethiopia. It occupies the middle elevations of the Ethiopian Highlands, between the high-elevation Ethiopian montane moorlands and lowland woodlands, savannas, shrublands, and thickets.
Aframomum corrorima is a species of flowering plant in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It's a herbaceous perennial that produces leafy stems 1–2 meters tall from rhizomatous roots. The alternately-arranged leaves are dark green, 10–30 cm long and 2.5–6 cm across, elliptical to oblong in shape. Pink flowers are borne near the ground and give way to red, fleshy fruits containing shiny brown seeds, which are typically 3–5 mm in diameter.
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Dendrocalamus asper, also known as giant bamboo or dragon bamboo, is a giant, tropical, clumping species of bamboo native to Southeast Asia. In addition to its prolific nature across Asia, the plant's overall attractive appearance has seen this species introduced widely across South America and Africa, as well as Mexico and Florida. One advantage of this bamboo, especially for gardens, is its natural growth habit as a sympodial, colony-forming plant. Overall this bamboo maintains its own "personal" growing space, and does not grow laterally (runners), thus posing less risk of being environmentally-invasive.
The Ethiopian montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in Ethiopia. It covers the southwestern and southeastern portions of the Ethiopian Highlands. The ecoregion includes distinctive Afromontane evergreen forests. The ecoregion's biodiversity is threatened by deforestation, conversion to agriculture, and overgrazing.
Raphionacme is a plant genus in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1842. The genus is found primarily in Africa, with one species on the Arabian Peninsula.
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 east lowlands of Madagascar. Its generic epithet 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'.
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