4562.000 Harpephyllum Bernh.

Description of the genus

Tree. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, clustered at ends of branches. Flowers unisexual in axillary panicles. Male flowers: petals 4(-5), imbricate; stamens 7-10. Female flowers: perianth similar to male; staminodes conspicuous; ovary with 4-5 sessile stigmas. Fruit fleshy with a bony 4-5-locular endocarp, with only 2 loculi fertile.

Harpephyllum caffrum, the Wild plum, is recorded in FZ 2(2): 557 as a cultivated plant for S Zimbabwe. The specimen cited, which was sterile, is Munch 379, collected in Masvingo ("cultivated in the Glenlivet Garden") on 29 June 1952. The species is quite commonly planted as a street tree in Zimbabwe, but there is no evidence that it has ever become naturalised here. Also, although this South African species extends northwards into Limpopo Province and hence occurs not very far from our southern border, there are no records of it occurring as a native tree in Zimbabwe.

Derivation of name: from Greek: harpe meaning a sickle, phyllon, a leaf, referring to the sickle-shaped leaflets.

Worldwide: 1 species, South Africa.

Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon.

Harpephyllum caffrum

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
caffrum Bernh.Description, Image

Other sources of information about Harpephyllum:

Our websites:

Flora of Mozambique: Harpephyllum

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Harpephyllum
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Harpephyllum
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Harpephyllum
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Harpephyllum
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Harpephyllum
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Harpephyllum
JSTOR Plant Science: Harpephyllum
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Harpephyllum
Plants of the World Online: Harpephyllum
Tropicos: Harpephyllum
Wikipedia: Harpephyllum

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants: genus page: Harpephyllum.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/genus.php?genus_id=1583, retrieved 29 March 2024

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