''Mischogyne elliotiana'' 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 '' Annonaceae'' family. It is native to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, and

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

. Adolf Engler and

Ludwig Diels Dr. Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels (24 September 1874 – 30 November 1945) was a German botanist. Diels was born in Hamburg, the son of the classical scholar Hermann Alexander Diels. From 1900 to 1902 he traveled together with Ernst Georg Prit ...

, the German botanists who first formally described the species using the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

''Uvaria elliotiana'', named it after George Scott-Elliot the botanist who collected the specimen they examined.

Description

It is a bush reaching 4-7 meters in height. Its elliptical leaves are 8-17 by 4-8 centimeters. Its hairless leaves are wedge shaped at their point of attachment and come to a long tapering point at their tips. The leaves have a papery to leathery texture and are glossy green on their upper side and lighter on their underside. The leaves have 7-13 pairs of secondary veins emanating from either side of their midribs. Its hairless petioles are 5-7 millimeters long. Its flowers are solitary or in groups of 2-4. The flowers are on 0.7-1.5 centimeter

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

that are covered in fine hairs and occur in axillary positions. The pedicels are subtended by a small

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

. Its oblong

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 are 10 by 3.5-4 millimeters, covered in fine hairs on both sides, and come to a shallow point at their tips. Its flowers have 6 white petals arranged in two rows of three. The outer, oblong petals are 15 by 3-4 millimeters, and covered in woolly hairs on both sides. The inner petals are slightly shorter. Its flowers have cylindrical receptacles that are 3-4 millimeters long. Its flowers have numerous oblong stamens that are 2-2.5 millimeters long. The tissue that connects the

theca In biology, a theca (plural thecae) is a sheath or a covering. Botany In botany, the theca is related to plant's flower anatomy. The theca of an angiosperm consists of a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a commo ...

is hairy an terminates in a tuft of hairs at the top of the anthers. Its flowers have 4-5 oblong,

carpels Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

that are 5-7 millimeters long and covered in hairs. Its stigmas are bilobed. The carpels contain numerous

ovules In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...

in two rows. Its are green to yellow with white spots, 6-10 by 4-6 centimeters, and have a contour that is constricted around the seeds. Its fruit have 6-12 seeds that are 2-2.8 by 1.2-1.5 by 0.3-0.5 centimeters, arranged in 1 or two rows. The seeds are flat on one side, semi-circular on the opposite side, and covered in a white membrane.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''M. elliotiana'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in evergreen or semideciduous forests that receive 100-400 centimeters of rain per year.

Uses

Gosline and colleagues report the white flesh of the fruits as being edible.

References

{{Taxonbar Annonaceae Flora of Cameroon Flora of Gabon Flora of Ghana Flora of Guinea Flora of Guinea-Bissau Flora of Ivory Coast Flora of Liberia Flora of Nigeria Flora of Sierra Leone Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Plants described in 1969 Taxa named by Adolf Engler Taxa named by Ludwig Diels