''Neostenanthera myristicifolia'' 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

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

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 ...

, The

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

Description

It is a shrub or tree reaching 13 meters in height. Its elliptical to oblong leaves are 8.5-25.5 by 3.7-9 centimeters. The tips of the leaves taper to a point, and their bases are blunt to rounded. The upper surface of the leaves are green to brown and hairless to slightly hairy, their lower surface is dark yellow-green to waxy blue and slightly hairy. The leaves have 10-18 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its petioles are 4-12.4 by 0.7-2.5 millimeters and slightly hairy. Its flowers occur in groups of 2-4 that are positioned on the stem, often opposite from leaves. The flowers are born on 12.2-38 millimeter long

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 slightly hairy. The pedicels are attached to 1.1-5 by 1.2-3.6 millimeter peduncles that are slightly hairy. 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 that are 0.8-4.2 by 1.2-2.6 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 6.5-29 millimeters. The spoon-shaped basal portion is 1.4-4.9 by 2.5-5.9 millimeters with a slightly hairy upper side. The apical lance-shaped portion of the outer petal is 5-25.2 by 1–9.2 millimeters with a tapering tip. The inner petals have a total length of 3.4-10.9 millimeters. The basal portion is 1.6-6.1 by 1,6-5.6 millimeters and slightly hairy on its upper surface. The apical portion is 1.8-5.7 by 0.6-3 millimeters, pointed at the tip, and hairless on the upper surface. Its flowers have 135-156

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 0.9-2.8 millimeters long with anthers that are 0.7-2.4 by 0.2-0.6 millimeters. The tissue connecting the lobes of the anthers extends upward for 0.1-0.5 millimeter and is hairless. Its flowers have 67-109

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 0.8-2.8 by 0.1-0.5 millimeters with 0.2-1.4 millimeters long styles that are straight or slightly curved. Each elliptical fruit is 4.4-60 by 2–9.6 millimeters with a blunt base and a 0.4-1.1 millimeter long tapered tip. The fruit are smooth and covered in fine hairs or hairless at maturity. Each fruit is attached to a 1.9-3.9 centimeter long pedicel, which in turn is attached to a 1.1-5.1 centimeter long peduncle. The fruit have elliptical seeds that are 3.5-13.1 by 1.7-9.2 millimeters.

Reproductive biology

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

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in swampy habitats; near rivers; in primary, secondary or gallery forests, at elevations from 300 to 1,000 meters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q15363713 myristicifolia Flora of Benin Flora of Cameroon Flora of the Central African Republic Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Flora of Equatorial Guinea Flora of Gabon Flora of Nigeria Flora of the Republic of the Congo Plants described in 1868 Taxa named by Daniel Oliver Taxa named by Arthur Wallis Exell