''Monocyclanthus'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae containing the single species ''Monocyclanthus vignei''.''Monocyclanthus''.
Tropicos. It is native to Ghana and

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 ...

. It is a rare plant of the understory of wet evergreen forest habitat. ''Monocyclanthus'' and ''Monocyclanthus vignei'' were first described in 1953 by Keay.

Description

It is distinguished from plants in the genus, ''

Uvaria ''Uvaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. The generic name ''uvaria'' is derived from the Latin ''uva'' meaning grape, likely because the edible fruit of some species in the genus resemble grapes. Circumscription Specie ...

'', by the single whorl of petals being valvate, and from

Isolona ''Isolona'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. There are 21 species native to Africa. They occur in humid habitat types.Couvreur, T. L., Gereau, R. E., Wieringa, J. J., & Richardson, J. E. (2006)Description of four new spec ...

, by both the carpels and the petals being free. The flowers are cauliflorous, that is, they flower on the trunk (or major branches).

Threats

It is threatened by ecosystem conversion and degradation, from mining, quarrying, logging and wood-harvesting.

References

Annonaceae Annonaceae genera Monotypic Magnoliales genera Flora of Ghana Flora of Liberia Endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Ronald William John Keay {{Annonaceae-stub