''Ehretia alba'' is a semi-deciduous shrub or small tree up to 4m high, growing in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

and the western, drier regions of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, and was first collected by Hermann Merxmüller at Breitenberg in the

Gobabis , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Ex Oriente Lux , image_skyline = Gobabis Namibia aerial.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imag ...

district of Namibia. As with other species of ''Ehretia'' it is twiggy with rigid branches, its fascicled leaves showing a large variation in size (6-25 x 3-13 mm), with acute or obtuse apices, and appressed setae along margins. Midribs and secondary veins are prominent on the lower surfaces, while the petioles are only 3 mm long. Leaves are generally clustered or fascicled on abbreviated twigs. Flowers are fragrant and white to cream, while unopened buds are mauve. The mature fruit is red and shows a persistent calyx. Until 2001 ''E. alba'' was regarded as simply a form of '' Ehretia rigida''. The authors felt it differed sufficiently and consistently from ''E. rigida'' to merit a new taxon: TYPE.—Namibia, 2218 (Gobabis): Breitenberg, Gobabis Dist., (-DC). Merxmüller 1071 (WIND, holo.; PRE, iso.).

External links

iSpot

Gallery

Ehretia alba01.jpg Ehretia alba03.jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15587572

alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingdom ...