''Chaetachme'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants native to eastern and western Africa, including Madagascar, containing the single species ''Chaetachme aristata''. Its English common name is thorny elm, and it is known as ''muyuyu'' in

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya *Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Centr ...

. Traditionally placed in the Elm family, it is more recently placed in the family Cannabaceae, thought to be possibly closely related to '' Celtis''. ''Chaetachme aristata'' is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

or small tree growing up to 10 meters tall. It has drooping, angular branches covered with spines up to 3.5 centimeters in length. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 11 centimeters long by 5 centimeters wide, pointed at the tip and smooth or serrated on the edges. The shrub is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

and sexually dimorphic, with male and female flower types borne on separate individuals, although it may also be

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is conne ...

. This shrub is host to the mirid bug '' Volumnus chaetacme''. The spiny branches of the shrub are used as fences in African villages.Bussmann, R. W., et al. (2006)
Plant use of the Maasai of Sekenani Valley, Maasai Mara, Kenya.
''J Ethnobiol Ethnomed'' 2 22.

References

Cannabaceae Monotypic Rosales genera Flora of Africa {{Rosales-stub