''Monodora laurentii'' 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 the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

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 nort ...

, and the Republic of the Congo. Émile De Wildeman, the Belgian botanist who first formally described the species, named it after Marcel Laurent, the Belgian botanist who collected many plant specimens in the regions along the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

Description

It is a tree reaching 4 meters in height. Its young and mature branches are hairless. Its hairless, papery to leathery, oval leaves are 12-14 by 3.5-4.5 centimeters. The tips of the leaves taper to a blunt tip, and the tapered portion is 15-20 millimeters long. The leaf bases are blunt to pointed. The leaves have 6-10 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its hairless petioles are 5-7 by 1-1.5 millimeters and have a groove on their upper surface. It has solitary flowers, positioned opposite from leaves, that hang down. Each flower is born on a hairless

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 ...

that 15-20 by 0.8 millimeters. The pedicels have a hairless, elliptical bract that is 9-10 by 4 millimeters. The base of the bract partially wraps the pedicel and its tip is pointed. It has 3 oblong, hairless, green

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 coine ...

s are 8-10 by 3 millimeters. The sepals have flat bases, pointed tips and straight edges. Its flowers have 6 petals in two rows of three. The outer petals are white to light pink with yellow and green streaks. The, hairless, oval outer petals are 35-50 by 9-12 millimeters. The outer petals have heart-shaped bases, pointed tips and straight margins. The diamond-shaped inner petals are 8-9 by 10-12 millimeters. The inner petals have wedge-shaped bases and pointed tips. The edges of the inner petals are straight and touch one another. The upper surface of the inner leaves have ribbon-like hairs while the lower surface is hairless. The inner petals have a hairless, basal

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 ...

below the blade that is 2 by 3 millimeters. Its flowers have 6-7 rows of stamen that are 0.7 millimeters long. The stamen filaments extend above the anthers to form a shield. Its carpels are fused forming an ovary wall that is 2 by 1.5 millimeters. Its hairless stigma are 1.5 millimeters in diameter. The fruit are born on a hairless,

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 15-20 by 5 millimeters. The purple, hairless, cone-shaped fruit are 4.5-6.5 by 2-2.5 centimeters with a pointed tip that is 5 millimeters long. The fruit are smooth with 5-6 ribs. The fruit have elliptical, smooth, dark brown seeds that are 12-15 by 10-11 millimeters.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''M. laurentii'' is shed as permanent

tetrads Tetrad ('group of 4') or tetrade may refer to: * Tetrad (area), an area 2 km x 2 km square * Tetrad (astronomy), four total lunar eclipses within two years * Tetrad (chromosomal formation) * Tetrad (general relativity), or frame field ** Tetrad fo ...

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in lowland rain forests at elevations from 400 to 500 meters.

References

laurentii Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Flora of Gabon Flora of the Republic of the Congo Plants described in 1909 Taxa named by Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman {{annonaceae-stub