Cola greenwayi
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{speciesbox
|image = Cola greenwayi2 Nibela Peninsula 25 05 2011.JPG
|image_caption = Cola greenwayi at Nibela Peninsula
|genus = Cola
|species = greenwayi
|authority = Brenan
|synonyms = Cola microcarpa
}}
Cola greenwayi, commonly known as hairy cola or Zulu coshwood,{{cite book|author=Quattrocchi, Umberto |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esMPU5DHEGgC&pg=PA579 |year=1999 |publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-8493-2675-2 |page=579}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It was first described in 1956 by the British botanist John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan.{{cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/30401393 |title=Cola greenwayi Brenan |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden|work=Tropicos |accessdate=23 July 2019}} It is native to southeastern Africa.
Description
Cola greenwayi is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree growing to around {{convert|20|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, either monoecious or dioecious. The smaller branches and twigs are brown and densely hairy at first. The leaves are alternate, purplish-brown when young and dark green and leathery when older, up to {{convert|15|by|5|cm|0|abbr=on}}. They are stalked, simple, elliptical or oblanceolate, and have prominent veins. There is a hairy swelling known as a pulvinus at the base of each leaf-blade, which acts as a hinge. The flowers are in clusters growing in the axils of the leaves. They have small, rusty-brown, hairy bracts. The calyx has four to six lobes and there are no petals. The four to five carpels turn yellowish-orange when ripe, making a sub-globose fruit, hairy at first, and later with a thin, brittle rind. It usually contains one or two seeds.{{cite web |url=https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=140090 |title=Cola greenwayi Brenan |work=Flora of Zimbabwe |publisher= |accessdate=23 July 2019}}{{cite journal |title=The genus Cola in southern Africa |author=Verdoorn, I.C. |journal=Bothalia |s2cid=82546895 |year=1981 |volume=13 |issue=3/4 |pages=277–279 |doi=10.4102/abc.v13i3/4.1317 |doi-access=free }}
Distribution and habitat
This tree is native to southeastern Africa, its range extending from Kenya and Tanzania southwards to Zimbabwe and Mozambique, Transvaal and eastern KwaZulu-Natal. Its habitat is dense forest, often on steep slopes, from sea level up to about {{convert|1100|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. It is also part of the typical flora of the Southern African Sand Forest which grows on ancient sand dunes on the border of northern KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique.{{cite web |title=Maputaland's Tembe Elephant National Park – a little known reserve with many natural secrets |url=http://www.africaelephants.com/ecology.htm | author=Matthews, Wayne |accessdate= 27 July 2019}}
Varieties
Two varieties are accepted:[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:822702-1 Cola greenwayi Brenan]. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- Cola greenwayi var. greenwayi
- Cola greenwayi var. keniensis {{small|Brenan}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Cola greenwayi|Cola greenwayi}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15361633}}
Category:Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo