''Neostenanthera gabonensis'' 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 family Annonaceae. It is native to

Cabinda Province Cabinda (formerly called Portuguese Congo, kg, Kabinda) is an exclave and province of Angola in Africa, a status that has been disputed by several political organizations in the territory. The capital city is also called Cabinda, known locall ...

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 ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and The

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

. Heinrich Gustav 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 ...

''Oxymitra gabonensis'', named it after Gabon where the specimen they examined was found near a site they identified as Sibange-Farm.

Description

It is a shrub or small tree reaching 6 meters in height. Its oblong to lance-shaped leaves are 5.2-20.9 by 2.3-7.1 centimeters. The tips of the leaves taper to a point, and their bases are wedge-shaped to rounded. The upper surface of the leaves are green and hairless to slightly hairy, their lower surface is green to greyish, waxy blue and slightly hairy. The leaves have 8-17 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its slightly hairy petioles are 2.6-12.9 by 0.7-1.7 millimeters. It usually has solitary flowers that are born on 31.3-71.7 millimeter, slightly hairy

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 ...

. The pedicels are attached to 1-3.7 by 1.7 millimeter peduncles. It has 3 triangular to oval, slightly hairy,

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 0.5-1.8 by 0.7-1.7 millimeters. The tips of the sepals are pointed, or taper to a point. Its flowers have 6 petals in two rows of three. The outer petals have a total length of 7.1-46.5 millimeters long. The spoon-shaped basal portion is 3-7 by 3.5-5.3 millimeters with a hairless upper side and slightly hairy underside. The apical lance-shaped portion of the outer petal is 4.1-40.6 by 1-5.9 millimeters and covered in white shaggy hairs, particularly near the edges on the upper side. The inner petals have a total length of 3.1-9.8 millimeters and densely covered in fine hairs on its upper surface. The basal portion is 2.6-6.9 by 3.7-5.4. The apical portion is 0.5-4.5 by 1.2-3.4 with an expended tip that is curved inward. Its flowers have 75-103

stamen 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 ...

that are 1.8-2.9 millimeters long. the tissue connecting the lobes of the anthers extends upward for 0.5-1.5 millimeter and is slightly hairy. Its flowers have 23-38

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 2.1-3.5 by 0.2-0.6 millimeters with 0.5-1.5 millimeters long styles that that have a knee-like bend. Each spindle-shaped fruit is 6-26.2 by 5.6-11.8 millimeters with a pointed base and a 0.5-4.1 millimeter long tapered tip. The fruit are ribbed and slightly hairy. Each fruit is attached to a 2.9-6.1 centimeter long pedicel, which in turn is attached to a 1.5-1.9 centimeter long peduncle. The fruit have spindle-shaped seeds that are 13.4-22.2 by 4.7-6.9 millimeters.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''N. gabonensis'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing near rivers, in swampy areas, in the undergrowth of primary and secondary forests, at elevations from 15-620 meters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15363639 Flora of Cabinda Province Flora of Cameroon Flora of Equatorial Guinea Flora of Gabon Flora of Ghana Flora of Ivory Coast Flora of Liberia Flora of the Republic of the Congo Plants described in 1899 gabonensis Taxa named by Adolf Engler Taxa named by Ludwig Diels Taxa named by Arthur Wallis Exell