Embelia xylocarpa P.Halliday

Myrsinaceae, P. Halliday. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1984

Morphology General Habit

Shrub to 1.8 m., with stiff arching branches; bark of young shoots pale reddish brown speckled with inconspicuous lenticels, sparsely glandular-hairy; older bark whitish, flaking and peeling, with a fibrous inner surface, glabrous.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves of older wood congested, set in clusters on stubby side shoots from main stem, leaving prominent leaf scars, alternate on younger wood; leaf-blades obovate, 3.6-6.8 cm. long, 3.1-3.9 cm. wide, obtuse to acute at apex, cuneate at base, margins slightly revolute, dentate in upper half with spine-like teeth, coriaceous, glossy, green or yellow-green above, paler beneath, gland-dotted, glabrous except for very young foliage; midrib grooved above, raised beneath, with 8-10 indistinct nerves on either side; petiole somewhat winged, 4-10 mm. long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence of several-flowered axillary clusters on short densely bracteate shoots; bracts minutely pubescent.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers greenish yellow to pink, sessile, 5-merous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx adnate to ovary, cup-shaped, 2 mm. in diameter, united halfway; lobes broadly ovate, with dark speckles on outer surface, margins minutely erose.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Petals free, lanceolate, obovate, acute, minutely pubescent on inner surface and with dark speckles on outer surface.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens adnate to petals in lower half; filaments slender; anthers ovate-oblong, obtuse or apiculate on same plant, splitting longitudinally.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil

Ovary of male flowers disc-like, with 2-3 ovules in 1 row surmounting the placenta; style short cylindrical 2 mm. long; stigma conical or truncate.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruits green through dull crimson to almost black, ovoid, sessile, with calyx persistent in hollow at base of fruit, 12 mm. in diameter, 1-seeded; pericarp±2.5 mm. thick.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seed basally attached within pericarp, encased in membranous skin, smooth, brown with light flecks (in herbarium material).

Figures

Fig. 4.

Habitat

Brachystegia, Uapaca woodland; 900 m.

Distribution

T8

Myrsinaceae, F. K. Kupicha. Flora Zambesiaca 7:1. 1983

Morphology General Habit

Shrub or small tree 1·5–6 m. tall, with somewhat sarmentose branches and distinctive smooth pale grey to whitish bark on younger twigs.

Note

Plants dioecious.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves 3–7·5 x 2·4 cm., obovate, rounded or occasionally emarginate at apex, acute at base, serrate in distal half to rarely subentire, clustered at ends of lateral short shoots which remain hard and spiny after leaf–fall; petiole 3–14 mm. long; lamina membranous or subcoriaceous, with midrib impressed above and prominent below, resin–dots very conspicuous to obscure, glabrous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers subsessile to shortly pedicelled, in dense fascicles or short racemes subtended by minute bracts, on old wood, mainly on the short shoots proximal to current leaves.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx 1·75–2 mm. long, cup–shaped, with resiniferous dots; lobes as long as tube, ovate or triangular, entire or somewhat dentate.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla 3·5–4·5 mm. long, black–dotted, petals free, narrowly oblong, greenish to yellowish or reddish.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens inserted on corolla at varying levels between 1/4 and 2/3 from base; anthers c. 0·75 mm. long, in male flowers fertile and borne on long filaments, in female flowers functionless and borne on short filaments, sometimes almost sessile.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium

Gynoecium in male flower rudimentary, in female flower c. 5 mm. long, with globose ovary, slender style and 2–lobed stigma.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit up to 1–2 cm. in diameter, depressed–globose, without persistent style, (?) with thin fleshy mesocarp (not apparent in herbarium) and woody endocarp 1–2·5 mm. thick.