''Strephonema pseudocola'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Combretaceae. It is a tree found in the forests of tropical West Africa. It was first described from the Ivory Coast.

Description

''Strephonema pseudocola'' is a large tree growing to a height of about . The leaves are alternate, simple and entire, the apex drawn out into a point. The white flowers are much larger than those of other members of the genus. They are bisexual, with parts in fives, and have a pedicel. The receptacle is cup-shaped, with the ovary visible inside at the base; this means that as the fruit develops, the remains of the calyx, petals and stamens are at the base of the fruit, whereas, in other genera of the family Combretaceae, they are at the top. The succulent fruit is some wide and long, rough, with a sharp apex and a warty appearance; it resembles a

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

, and contains a single, large seed with two cotyledons; the fruit is similar in appearance to a

kola nut The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These cola ...

Distribution

''Strephonema pseudocola'' is native to the forests of tropical West Africa, its range extending from Sierra Leone through Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana to Cameroon. It is the only species in the genus to be found west of Nigeria. It predominantly grows in wet lowland forest, but in Ghana it also grows in upland evergreen forest in the Atewa Range, along with '' Combretum multinervium'', ''

Neolemonniera clitandrifolia ''Neolemonniera clitandrifolia'' is a species of plant in the family Sapotaceae. It is found in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction ...

'', '' Newtonia duparquetiana'' and the liana ''

Strychnos icaja ''Strychnos icaja'' is a species belonging to the plant family Loganiaceae, native to West Tropical Africa. It is a very large, tropical rainforest liana which may attain a length of . Taxonomy The species was published in the journal ''Adanso ...

''.

Ecology

''Strephonema pseudocola'' is a non-

ectomycorrhiza An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobi ...

l tree, as are ''

Cola verticillata ''Cola verticillata'' is a species of tree in the genus ''Cola'', of the family Malvaceae, native to the forests of tropical Africa. Common names include owe cola, slippery cola and mucilage cola. It was first described by the Danish botanist Pe ...

'' and ''

Oubanguia alata ''Oubanguia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lecythidaceae. Its native range is Africa. Species Species: *''Oubanguia africana ''Oubanguia'' is a genus of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear f ...

'' with which it is often associated. The leaf litter below these trees contains more N and less Mg and P, and decays faster than does the leaf litter in areas dominated by ectomycorrhizal species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17583186 Combretaceae Flora of West Tropical Africa Flora of Cameroon Flora of Ghana Flora of Guinea Flora of Ivory Coast Flora of Liberia Flora of Sierra Leone Taxa named by Auguste Chevalier