| Vitex doniana | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Genus: | Vitex |
| Species: | V. doniana |
| Binomial name | |
| Vitex doniana Sweet [1] | |
Vitex doniana is a tree native to the Afrotropics. Its fruits are one of several fruits called black plums. This tree is often grown for its fruits. [1] [2]
It grows to 4–8 metres (13–26 ft), and rarely up to 15 metres (49 ft). Its fruits are at most 2.5 centimetres (31⁄32 in) in length. [2] V. doniana is found at altitudes of 0–1,800 metres (0–5,906 ft) [2] in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Eswatini, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. [3] The insect Rastrococcus invadens is a pest to this plant. [3]
V. doniana is known as plem in Ethiopia, uchakoro in Nigeria, mfudu and mfuu in Eswatini, mfuu in Tanzania, munyamazi and yuelo in Uganda and kashilumbalu in Zambia. [3]
V. doniana is one of the few plants notable for its phytoecdysteroid content, Ochieng et al. 2013 finding it is one of the few with more than 0.001% by dry weight. [4] Specifically they find 21-hydroxyshidasterone, 11b-hydroxy-20-deoxyshidasterone and 2,3-acetonide-24-hydroxyecdysone. [5]
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. The name comes from Greek φυτόν (phyton) 'plant'. Some phytochemicals have been used as poisons and others as traditional medicine.
Vitex agnus-castus, also called vitex, chaste tree, chasteberry, Abraham's balm, lilac chastetree, or monk's pepper, is a native of the Mediterranean region. It is one of the few temperate-zone species of Vitex, which is on the whole a genus of tropical and sub-tropical flowering plants. Theophrastus mentioned the shrub several times, as agnos (άγνος) in Enquiry into Plants. It has been long believed to be an anaphrodisiac – leading to its name as chaste tree – but its effectiveness for such action remains unproven.
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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.
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Vitex is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae. It has about 250 species. Common names include chaste tree or chastetree, traditionally referring to V. agnus-castus but often applied to other species as well.
The African hobby is a small species of bird of prey in the family Falconidae.
The African green pigeon is a species of bird in the family Columbidae, and one of 5 green pigeon species in the Afrotropics. The species has a wide range in Sub-Saharan Africa with around 17 accepted races.
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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.
Parinari curatellifolia is an evergreen tropical tree of Africa, found in various kinds of deciduous woodland most frequently in poorly drained areas and inland at moderate altitudes. It is also known as mmupudu, mupundu or mobola plum after the fruit, which is considered tasty and causes the tree to be spared when woodland is cleared for cultivation.
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Treculia africana is a tree species in the genus Treculia which can be used as a food plant and for various other traditional uses. The fruits are hard and fibrous, can be the size of a volleyball and weight up to 8.5 kg (19 lb). Chimpanzees have been observed to use tools to break the fruits into small pieces that they can eat. The fruits contain polyphenols.
Commiphora africana, commonly called African myrrh, is a small deciduous tree belonging to the Burseraceae, a family akin to the Anacardiaceae, occurring widely over sub-Saharan Africa in Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Eswatini, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. On sandy soils this species sometimes forms pure stands, deserving consideration as a plant community or association.
Schrebera alata is a plant in the family Oleaceae. It grows as a tree up to 15 m (50 ft) tall. The specific epithet alata is from the Latin meaning "winged", referring to the petioles. Its habitat is forests and woodland from 1,000–1,800 m (3,000–6,000 ft) altitude. Schrebera alata is native Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Eswatini and South Africa.
Maerua angolensis is a 10m tall, occasionally deciduous tree of the Capparaceae or caper family, often growing on termitaria and in thickets fringing seasonal watercourses, up to 1800m. Though never common, it is widespread in tropical Africa and arid regions, being absent from high-rainfall regions.
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