''Commiphora madagascariensis'', with the common name Madagascar corkwood, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Burseraceae The Burseraceae are a moderate-sized family of 17-19 genera and about 540 species of flowering plants. The actual numbers differ according to the time period in which a given source is written describing this family. The Burseraceae are also kno ...

. The species is native to Tanzania, introduced into India.

Description

This slender sometimes scandent shrub or tree (1–15 m) is found in thickets and semi-evergreen dry forest at elevations of 0–660 m. Commiphora wightii

The bark smooth, dark brown, grey-brown or green-brown; branches often spiny, hairless. Leaves are 1-foliolate or 3-foliolate with 2 much smaller lateral leaflets; leaf-stalk very short, about 1 mm long, or considerably longer, up to 1–5 cm; leaflet-blade up to 4 x 1–5 cm, elliptic or narrowly ovate-spoon-shaped, tip pointed or blunt, margins finely rounded saw-toothed, base wedge-shaped, hairless on both sides. Flowers appear before the leaves or with the young leaves in nearly stalkless clusters on short side-shoots or spines. Sepal-cup is about 2 mm long, tubular, lobed to 1/3 to 1/2-way, and hairless. Petals are about 4 mm long. Disk-lobes are 4. Stamen-filaments slender, nearly round. Fruit is about 1-2 x 0–6 cm, ellipsoid, somewhat flattened, hairless, tip somewhat apiculate.

Endangerment and rescue

World Conservation Union The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) has enlisted it in its

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of threatened species. The species is known from 11 locations, some of which have threats such as urbanisation (Mjimwema), increasing human population (Mnazi Bay) or planned hydropower schemes (Stiegler's Gorge). We assess this species as Near Threatened, as it is close to meeting the thresholds for listing in a threatened category.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15546041 madagascariensis Endemic flora of Tanzania Plants described in 1797