''Rhodolaena acutifolia'' is a plant in the family

Sarcolaenaceae The Sarcolaenaceae are a family of flowering plants endemic to Madagascar. The family includes 79 species of mostly evergreen trees and shrubs in ten genera. Recent DNA studies indicate that the Sarcolaenaceae are a sibling taxon to the family ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

' is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

meaning "sharp-leafed".

Description

''Rhodolaena acutifolia'' grows as a small tree or shrub. Its leaves are small, subcoriaceous, elliptic in shape, tapering to a point and sharp at the base. They measure up to wide. The flowers are paired in solitary

inflorescences An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

on a long stem. Individual flowers are very large with bright purple-pink petals, measuring up long. The fruits are dark green, drying black.

Distribution and habitat

''Rhodolaena acutifolia'' is only found in the east central

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Analamanga Analamanga is a region in central Madagascar, containing the capital Antananarivo and its surrounding metropolitan area. The region has an area of , and had a population of 3,618,128 in 2018. Administrative divisions Analamanga Region is divided in ...

Alaotra-Mangoro Alaotra-Mangoro is a region in eastern Madagascar. It borders Sofia Region in north, Analanjirofo in northeast, Atsinanana in east, Vakinankaratra in southwest, Analamanga in west and Betsiboka in northwest. The capital of the region is Ambatondra ...

and

Analanjirofo Analanjirofo is a region in northeastern Madagascar. Until 2009 it was a part of Toamasina Province. It borders Sava Region to the north, Sofia Region to the west, Alaotra-Mangoro Region to the southwest and Atsinanana Region to the south. The c ...

. Its habitat is humid evergreen forests from to altitude. Two subpopulations of the trees are in

Zahamena National Park Zahamena National Park is a national park of Madagascar. Established in 1997, it covers an area of out of a total protected area of . It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Rainforests of the Atsinanana, inscribed in 2007 and consisting of ...

Threats

''Rhodolaena acutifolia'' is threatened by harvesting for timber. Due to shifting cultivation, future habitat loss is predicted at up to 50%.

References

acutifolia Endemic flora of Madagascar Plants described in 1884 {{Sarcolaenaceae-stub