Balanites pedicellaris

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Balanites pedicellaris
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Zygophyllales
Family: Zygophyllaceae
Genus: Balanites
Species:
B. pedicellaris
Binomial name
Balanites pedicellaris
(Welw.) Mildbr. & Schltr. [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Balanites horridaMildbr. & Schltr.
  • Balanites australisBremek.

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.

Sub-Saharan Africa Area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara Desert

Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. According to the United Nations, it consists of all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara. It contrasts with North Africa, whose territories are part of the League of Arab states within the Arab world. The states of Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros and the Arabic speaking Mauritania are however geographically in sub-Saharan Africa, although they are members of the Arab League as well. The UN Development Program lists 46 of Africa’s 54 countries as “sub-Saharan,” excluding Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia.

Zygophyllaceae family of plants

Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. The family includes around 285 species in 22 genera.

Contents

Description

Balanites pedicellaris is a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree, although some specimens may have a single fluted trunk. [2] The branches are yellowish or greyish-green, bearing simple green spines. The leaves are alternate or grow on the spines, bifoliolate; the leaflets obovate, pale green, rather fleshy, down covered with a short downy petiole. The greenish-white flowers have 6 petals and are bunched in small, axillary clusters, approximately 1.4 cm in diameter. The fruit is a drupe, which is round or ellipsoid and normally flattened on either end, it measures 1·2–2·5 × 1·5–2 cm., the unripe fruit is usually covered in downy hairs but these are lost on the ripe fruit which is orange in colour. [3] [4] Grows up to 6m tall. [4]

Glossary of leaf morphology

The following is a defined list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple or compound. The edge of the leaf may be regular or irregular, may be smooth or bearing hair, bristles or spines. For more terms describing other aspects of leaves besides their overall morphology see the leaf article.

Drupe Fleshy fruit with hard inner layer (endocarp or stone) surrounding the seed

In botany, a drupe is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a single shell of hardened endocarp with a seed (kernel) inside. These fruits usually develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries. The definitive characteristic of a drupe is that the hard, "lignified" stone is derived from the ovary wall of the flower—in an aggregate fruit composed of small, individual drupes, each individual is termed a drupelet and may together form a botanic berry.

Distribution

Balanites pedicellaris occurs from Ethiopia and Somalia south through eastern Africa to KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. [2]

Ethiopia Country in East Africa

Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country in the northeastern part of Africa, known as the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, the de facto state of Somaliland and Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest. With over 102 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent with a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa, which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian and Somali tectonic plates.

Somalia Federal republic in Africa

Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.

South Africa Republic in the southernmost part of Africa

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Bantu ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European, Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.

Habitat

Balanites pedicellaris is found in dry woodland and scrub and on alluvial soils on floodplains, [3] where there are scattered trees. [4]

Uses

The fruit is eaten but is not sought after. [3] The fresh fruits are toxic and have a bitter taste, consumption causes thirst, dizziness and vomiting. A infusion made from the roots is used to treat fever and diarrhoea, the boiled root infusion is frequently added to milk given to children. [5] The root infusion is used as an emetic by the Turkana people. [2] The seeds are cooked and are an important source of food in northern Kenya, particularly in Turkana. [6] The leaves are used as browse for domestic animals while the wood is used for carvings and to make torches. [2]

Turkana people ethnic group of Africa

The Turkana are a Nilotic people native to the Turkana County in northwest Kenya, a semi-arid climate region bordering Lake Turkana in the east, Pokot, Rendille and Samburu people to the south, Uganda to the west, and South Sudan and Ethiopia to the north. They refer to their land as Turkan.

Turkana County County in Kenya

Turkana County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Turkana is the second largest, by land area, and also the northwesternmost county in Kenya. It is bordered by the countries of Uganda to the west; South Sudan and Ethiopia, including the disputed Ilemi Triangle, to the north and northeast; and Lake Turkana to the east. To the south and east, neighbouring counties in Kenya are West Pokot, Baringo and Samburu Counties, while Marsabit County is located on the opposite shore of Lake Turkana.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Balanites pedicellaris Mildbr. & Schltr". The Plant List. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Balanites pedicellaris Mildbr. & Schltr". Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Balanites pedicellaris Mildbr. & Schltr. subsp. pedicellaris". Flora of Zimbabwe. Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Flora Zambesica". Flora Zambesica. Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  5. Umberto Quattrocchi (2016). CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). CRC Press. p. 521. ISBN   1482250640.
  6. Patrick Maundu; Bo Tengnäs (2005). Useful Trees and Shrubs for Kenya (PDF). World Agroforestry Centre. p. 118. ISBN   9966-896-70-8.