''Trichocladus ellipticus'' is a species in the genus ''

Trichocladus ''Trichocladus'' is a genus of plant in family Hamamelidaceae, consisting of shrubs or small trees. The distinguishing features of the genus ''Trichocladus'' are as follows: *Branches and leaves are often covered in dense, velvet-like, stellate h ...

'', in the family

Hamamelidaceae Hamamelidaceae, commonly referred to as the witch-hazel family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. The clade consists of shrubs and small trees positioned within the woody clade of the core Saxifragales. An earlier syste ...

. It is also called white witch-hazel.Coates-Palgrave, M. 2002. Keith Coates-Palgrave "Trees of Southern Africa", edn 3, imp. 4. Random House Struik (Pty), Ltd, Cape Town. . pp 243, 244

Description and range

An evergreen, ''Trichocladus ellipticus'' ranges in size from a scrambling shrub to a small, many-branched tree to 10m, while the subspecies ''malosanus'' reaches up to 15m. It is native to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, eastern

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, and western

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

along the border with Zimbabwe, where it occurs in mist-belt forests, along streams and rivers, where it is often quite dominant, and in swampy areas. Wood: White, hard, and tough, often with a black centre. Bark: Young stems are covered by velvety brown hairs, maturing to greyish brown and hairless. Leaves: Leaves are entire and are both alternate and spirally arranged, elliptic to lanceolate, with a pointed tip and slightly more rounded base. Adult leaves are dark, glossy green above with dense, rusty to cream coloured hairs beneath, and are normally 7 cm long, but can range from 5 cm to 15 cm in length, and 2.5-7.5 cm wide. Petiole is 0.5–2 cm long. Flowers: Ranging in colour from yellowish green to cream, the spiky, ragged axillary or terminal heads are about 2 cm in diameter, and closely resemble Hamamelis in shape. Male and female parts are borne on separate flowers, either on the same specimen or different specimens (may be either monoecious or dioecious). Flowers from September to December. Fruit: Small, velvety, almost spherical 5x6cm capsules which split into 2 valves, each of which itself splits into two. Fruits are borne between December and February.

Subspecies

''Trichocladus ellipticus'' subsp. ''ellipticus'': Endemic to South Africa and has smaller, narrower leaves with an attenuate apex. ''Trichocladus ellipticus'' subsp. ''malosanus'':The Plant List http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/tro-15100048 Occurs in Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique, and has noticeably larger, broader leaves with a slightly rounded apex.

Cultivation

Grows well in cool (temperate) greenhouses. Compost and care similar to that of Gardenia.Chittenden, Fred J., Synge, Patrick M., editors. 1977. “The Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening”, edn. 2, Oxford University Press. . Volume 4, pp. 2138-2139

Etymology

''Trichocladus'' is derived from Greek and means 'hairy-branched' (τριχός trichos, ‘hair’; κλάδος klados, ‘branch’),Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 183, 385 while ''ellipticus'', also derived from Greek (ελλειπτικός), means ‘about twice as long as broad, oblong with rounded ends, elliptic’.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15411018 Hamamelidaceae Flora of Zimbabwe Flora of South Africa Flora of Mozambique Afromontane flora