''Uvariastrum hexaloboides'' 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 Annonaceae family. It is native to

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

Robert Elias Fries (Klas) Robert Elias Fries (11 July 1876, Uppsala – 29 January 1966, Stockholm), the youngest son of Theodor Magnus Fries (1832–1913) and grandson of Elias Magnus Fries(1794–1878) and an expert on mushrooms. A Swedish botanist who was a mem ...

, the botanist 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 ...

''Uvaria hexaloboides'', named it after a different species

Hexalobus monopetalus ''Hexalobus monopetalus'' is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae with the common name baboon's breakfast. It is native to Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bi ...

which he thought its flowers and vegetative parts resembled.

Description

It is a tree reaching 15 meters in height. The young, brown branches are densely hairy, but become hairless and dark brown with maturity. Its narrowly elliptical to egg-shaped, leathery leaves are 6-13 by 2.4-5 centimeters. The leaves have wedge-shaped to rounded bases and tapering tips, with the tapering portion 1-2 centimeters long. The tips of the leaves have a shallow notch. The leaves are hairless on their dark green upper surface and sparsely hairy on their lighter green lower surfaces. The leaves have 9-14 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its petioles are 0.1-0.3 millimeters long, and covered in dense red-brown hairs, with a broad groove on their upper side. Its solitary or paired

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s occur on branches and sometimes the trunk. Each inflorescence has 1 flower. Each flower is on a densely hairy

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

that is 0.5-6 by 1-2 millimeters. The pedicels have 1-2 oval, basal

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s that are 2-7 by 3-6 millimeters and densely hairy. Its flowers have 3 oval

sepals 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 ...

that are 0.9-1.5 by 0.7 by 1.8 centimeters. The sepals are densely hairy on both surfaces, and hairier at their margins which are slightly folded. Its 6 petals are arranged in two rows of 3. The yellow to green-yellow, elliptical, outer petals are 2–3.5 by 1-1.4 centimeters with densely hairy upper and lower surfaces. The yellow to green-yellow, oval inner petals are 1–2.5 by 0.8-1.5 centimeters with densely hairy upper and lower surfaces. The flowers have numerous

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 ...

s that are 3 by 0.5 millimeters. The flowers have up to 10-14

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 3 millimeters long, and densely hairy. The carpels have bilobed stigma. The fruit occur in clusters of 1–5 on sparsely hairy pedicles that are 0.5-2 by 2-5 centimeters. The red, hairless, oblong fruit are 2.5-6 by 2-2.5 centimeters. Each fruit has up to 6-10 dark brown, elliptical seeds that are 15-20 by 8-12 by 6-8 millimeters.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''Uvariastrum hexaloboides'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Distribution and habitat

It has been observed growing rocky or red sandy loam soil in woodlands at altitudes between 1000 and 1600 meters.

Uses

It has been described as being used as a source of edible fruit in Zambia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q15367079 Plants described in 1914 Flora of Tanzania Flora of Zambia Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Taxa named by Robert Elias Fries Annonaceae