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Marsdenia abyssinica
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Photo: Mark Hyde
Edge of garden in property adjacent to Rhodesville Catholic Church, Harare.
Photo: Mark Hyde
Edge of garden in property adjacent to Rhodesville Catholic Church, Harare.
Photo: Mark Hyde
Edge of garden in property adjacent to Rhodesville Catholic Church, Harare.
Photo: Mark Hyde
Edge of garden in property adjacent to Rhodesville Catholic Church, Harare.
Photo: Mark Hyde
Edge of garden in property adjacent to Rhodesville Catholic Church, Harare.
Photo: Mark Hyde
Edge of garden in property adjacent to Rhodesville Catholic Church, Harare.
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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)
| Synonyms: |
Dregea abyssinica (Hochst.) K. Schum. Dregea africana (Decne.) Martelli Hoya africana Decne. Marsdenia spissa S. Moore Pterygocarpus abyssinicus Hochst. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | Local |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Woody scrambler up to several metres with white latex; older wood lenticellate, soft and corky below. Young shoots minutely velvety. Leaves ovate to broadly elliptic, 5–10 cm long, hairless on both surfaces; petiole 1–2.5 cm long, minutely velvety. Inflorescences extra-axillary, with congested, irregularly branched clusters of flowers; peduncles 1–2.5 cm long; pedicels 0.7–1.4 cm long. Sepals broadly ovate to orbicular, 1.5–3 mm long and wide, densely velvety at least towards the base. Flowers sweetly scented with corolla lobes overlapping to the right. Corolla white, cream or green; lobes ovate or oblong, 4–5 mm long, hairless or sparsely pubescent outside, densely pubescent, even bearded towards the apex, margins and throat inside. Fruit in paired or single ovoid follicles occurring singly or in opposite pairs, woody, ovoid, 6–10 cm long, tapering to a pointed apex, covered with many well-developed and extremely convoluted longitudinal wings. |
| Notes: | The occurrence of this species in a suburban garden in Harare is puzzling. There is no evidence that this species is cultivated in Zimbabwe although it is not impossible that it might be grown as a novelty for its strange fruits. It is a rare species in the Central Division with only one record in SRGH (Eyles 2915). |
| Derivation of specific name: | abyssinica: of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) |
| Habitat: | Mostly in Acacia woodland and along forest margins. |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 400 - 1500 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Widespread in Africa from Ghana and Nigeria in the west to Ethiopia and Sudan in the Northeast and southwards to Zambia and Zimbabwe |
| Zimbabwe distribution: | N,C,E,S |
| Growth form(s): | |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Images last updated: | Sunday 5 May 2013 |
| Literature: |
Bullock, A.A. (1956). Notes on African Asclepiadaceae: VIII. Kew Bulletin 11(3) Pages 516 - 517. As Dregia abyssinica Drummond, R.B. (1975). A list of trees, shrubs and woody climbers indigenous or naturalised in Rhodesia. Kirkia 10(1) Page 270. As Dregea abyssinica Goyder, D., Harris, T., Masinde, S., Meve, U. & Venter, J. (2012). Apocynaceae (part 2) Flora of Tropical East Africa Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Goyder, D.J., Gilbert, M.G. & Venter, H.J.T. (2020). Apocynaceae (Part 2) Flora Zambesiaca 7(2) Page 79. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 21. Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 25. |
Other sources of information about Marsdenia abyssinica:
Our websites:
Flora of Mozambique: Marsdenia abyssinicaFlora of Zambia: Marsdenia abyssinica
External websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Marsdenia abyssinicaAfrican Plant Database: Marsdenia abyssinica
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Marsdenia abyssinica
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Marsdenia abyssinica
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Marsdenia abyssinica
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Marsdenia abyssinica
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Marsdenia abyssinica
JSTOR Plant Science: Marsdenia abyssinica
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Marsdenia abyssinica
Plants of the World Online: Marsdenia abyssinica
Tropicos: Marsdenia abyssinica
Wikipedia: Marsdenia abyssinica
| Home | > | List of families | > | Apocynaceae subfamilies Asclepiadoideae and Secamonoideae | > | Marsdenia | > | abyssinica |