''Tambourissa cocottensis'', commonly known as Bois Tambour
is a species of
plant in the
Monimiaceae family. The only population (less than 50 individuals and decreasing) is
endemic to the summit
Montagne Cocotte
Montagne Cocotte is a 771 metre tall mountain peak in Mauritius. It is located in the far south of the island nation, in the Savanne District and in the Black River Gorges National Park
Black River Gorges National Park is a national park in th ...
,
Mauritius (with an average annual precipitation of 5000 mm).
Description
Small tree 4–5 m. A
monoecious
Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy.
Monoecy is conne ...
species. Leaves opposite to subopposite, petitolate, glabrous,
petioles 7–20 mm by 1–2 mm, lamina subcoriaceous, elliptic, 45–105 mm by 15–40 mm, the apex shortly acute to shortly accuminate, the tip indurated, the base acutely cuneate, slightly decurrent. New growth glabrous. Androceous flowers, solitary or in fascicles of two,
cauliflorous. Immature fruiting receptacle globose-urceolate, 15 mm in diameter by 12 mm long. Mature fruiting receptacle and carpels unknown.
Ecology
''T. cocottensis'' closely resembles ''
T. tetragona'' in certain aspects such as cauliflory, leaf size, -margin, -texture, -shape or -venation. However, unlike ''
T. tetragona'', ''T. cocottensis''
' stems and
petioles are winged. There are also differences in the flower structure.
Threats
In 1979, there were only four individuals known. They were in different stages of growth, suggesting that regeneration took place in previous years. In August of the same year, the two largest plants were in bud, both being
gynoecious
Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction.
Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the reproductive s ...
. Unfortunately, there were no male (
androecious) trees found in the species' natural habitat. A poor pollination rate
further decreases the chances for this species surviving without help from humans. Fruits were last recorded in 1979. ''T. cocottensis'' is now (together with ''
T. tetragona'') a
relicted species, limited to the summit of Mt. Cocotte.
Despite by law being in a nature reserve, the forests of Mt. Cocotte have been highly degraded and thus are highly vulnerable to neophytes.
See also
*
Wildlife of Mauritius
The wildlife of Mauritius consists of its flora and fauna. Mauritius is located in the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar. Due to its isolation, it has a relatively low diversity of wildlife; however, a high proportion of these are endemism, en ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1934930
Monimiaceae
Endemic flora of Mauritius
Critically endangered plants
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Plants described in 1982