''Annona haematantha'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family Annonaceae. It is native to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

and

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel (24 October 1811 – 23 January 1871) was a Dutch botanist, whose main focus of study was on the flora of the Dutch East Indies. Early life Miquel was born in Neuenhaus and studied medicine at the University of Groni ...

, the Dutch botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its blood-red flowers (Latinized forms of Greek , haimátinos and , ánthos).

Description

It is a woody vine reaching 5 centimeters in diameter. It has climbing habit that becomes horizontal as it reaches the forest canopy. Its membranous, elliptical leaves are 12-15 by 5-7 centimeters and come to a tapering point at their tip. Its leaves have 10-12 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its petioles are 5-6 millimeters and covered in rust-colored hairs. Its

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s have a solitary flower on a 10 millimeter long

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

that is 1 millimeters in diameter. It has oval to triangular

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s that are 2-3 millimeters long and covered in dense brown hair. Its 6 petals are arranged in two rows of 3. The outer petals are fused to form a tube 5-10 millimeters long by 10 millimeters in diameter, with oval to triangular lobes that are 10-20 by 10-15 millimeters. The outer petals are yellow to red outside and deep red inside. The inner petals are fused to form a 7 millimeter long tube with 2 millimeter long triangular lobes.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''A. haematantha'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Distribution and habitat

It grows in forests and swamp-forests in sandy soil. It flowers in January.

Uses

Bioactive compounds extracted from the roots have been reported to have

antileishmanial Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by parasites of the trypanosome genus '' Leishmania''. It is generally spread through the bite of phlebotomine sandflies, ''Phlebotomus'' and ''Lutzomyia'', and occurs most fre ...

properties.

References

External links

* haematantha Flora of Brazil Flora of French Guiana Flora of Guyana Flora of Suriname Species described in 1849 Taxa named by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel {{Annonaceae-stub