''Monodora junodii'' 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 exclu ...

in the family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest family in the Ma ...

. It is native to Eswatini,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

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 ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

, and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with ...

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 Pri ...

, the German botanists who first formally described the species, named it after Henri-Alexandre Junod, the Swiss missionary and scientist who collected the specimen that they examined.

Description

It is a tree reaching 7 meters in height. Its branches have

lenticels A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...

. Its leaves are 6.5-16.5 by 3-5.5 centimeters and come to a point at their tips. The leaves are smooth on their upper and lower surfaces. Its petioles are 1-6 millimeters long. Its pendulous flowers are odorless, solitary and axillary or extra-axillary. Each flower is on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

0.8-2 centimeters long. Its flowers have 3 slightly hairy, green sepals that are 5-10 millimeters longwith rounded tips. Its 6 petals are arranged in two rows of 3. The outer petals are 2-3.5 by 1.6-2.7 centimeters and yellow when young, but turning puce or purple when mature. The inner petals are similarly colored, have a 0.7-1.0 centimeter long

claw A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...

at their base and a 1-1.6 by 1.4-2.1 centimeter wide blade. The inner petals are hairy with the exception of the upper side of the claw. Its

stamens The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

are 0.5 millimeters long. Its wrinkled, smooth fruit are globe shaped and 4-5 centimeters in diameter and are greenish-grey with brown highlights. Its light yellow-brown, flat, oval-shaped seeds are 1.5-2 centimeters long.

Reproductive biology

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

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in sandy soil in lowland and evergreen forests at elevations from 0-900 meters.

References

junodii Flora of Kenya Flora of South Africa Flora of Swaziland Flora of Malawi Flora of Tanzania Flora of Zimbabwe Plants described in 1899 Taxa named by Adolf Engler Taxa named by Ludwig Diels {{annonaceae-stub