Cryptolepis decidua
Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record (Click here to see images of this plant from Kyffhäuser)
Image 1
Leaves and open fruit capsules
13 Jun 2008
Image 2
Habit
20 Sep 2013
Image 3
Leaves
20 Sep 2013
Image 4
White sap
20 Sep 2013
Image 5
Flower
31 Mar 2015
Image 6
Seed pods
29 Mar 2015
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Full name: | Cryptolepis decidua (Planch. ex Hook.f. & Benth.) N.E.Br. |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Bokhorinkie, Jakkalsbos |
| English common name(s): | Horn shrub |
| Synonym(s): | Cryptolepis decidua (Planch. ex Benth.) N.E.Br. accepted by FSA Curroria decidua Planch. ex Benth. subsp. decidua Cryptolepis macrophylla (Radcl.-Sm.) Venter (for tropical Africa) |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | A shrub with straight slender branches, having a pale grey (glaucous ?) bark and rather distant nodes, from which arise short, and proportionately stout lateral shoots 0.125– 0.25 in. long, bearing leaves and flowers. Leaves subfasciculate on the lateral shoots, 0.75–1 in. long, 1–2 lin. broad, linear or linear-spathulate, obtuse or subacute, gradually narrowing to the base, subsessile, glabrous. Flowers solitary in the axils of the leaves, one or two (or more ?) in each tuft of leaves; pedicels 3–7.5 lin. long, bracteate at about the middle, slender, glabrous. Sepals 1 lin. long, lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla-tube campanulate, 1 lin. long; lobes lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 3 lin. long, twisted in the bud, glabrous. Coronal-lobes arising from the middle of the corolla-tube, 1.5–2 lin. long, filiform or subulate. Anthers connivent, acuminate. Style shorter than the anthers, conical at the apex. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Tropical Africa) A suffrutescent dwarf-shrub. Stems woody, erect, branching, 0.5–1.0 m high, up to 5 mm diameter; older stems grey to pale brown, smooth, glabrous; young stems dark reddish-brown, smooth, glabrous; interpetiolar ridges villous, with dentate colleters, inconspicuous on younger branches, absent on older branches, branchlets often contracted. Leaves opposite or fascicled, axils villous, sub-sessile to petiolate; petiole green, glabrous, slightly grooved, 0.5–2.0 mm long; blade oblong, occasionally oblong-elliptic or oblong-obovate, 9–45 x 1–6 mm, slightly succulent, smooth, glabrous, light green above and beneath, occasionally with purple spots on both surfaces; apex obtuse to acute, occasionally emarginate, mucronulate to mucronate, villous, not recurved; base cuneate, occasionally obtuse; secondary and tertiary venation not visible. Flowers single on contracted branchlets; pedicels 5–10(–18.5) mm long; bracts absent or 1–2 per pedicel, opposite or spirally arranged, acicular, 0.5–1.0 mm long, fimbriate with long silky trichomes. Buds oblong-ovoid, acute, slightly turned to half-turn helically twisted. Sepals oblong-ovate, 0.5–2.0(–2.5) x 0.5–1.0 mm, acute, margin fimbriate with long silky trichomes, trichomes at inner bases. Corolla violet, 8.5–11.5 mm long; tube shortly campanulate, (2.0–)2.5–3.0 mm long, glabrous; lobes spreading, linear-oblong, 6.0–8.5 x 1 mm, apices obtuse. Corona single, inserted at lower third of corolla tube, slightly exserted, lobes filiform, simple, occasionally bifid, 2–3 mm long. Stamens inserted at lower quarter to fifth of corolla tube; anthers triangular, acute, glabrous, 0.7–1.0 mm long. Ovaries 0.3–0.8 mm long; style ± 0.3 mm long, style-head obtuse to acutely bifid, 0.7–1.0 x 0.6–1.0 mm. Follicles erect, widely divaricate to horizontal at 110°–180°, narrowly ovoid, (25–)48–65 x 3–10 mm, apices attenuate, bases cuneate, light brown, finely ribbed. Seeds oblong to broadly elliptic, 3–6 x 1–2 mm, light to dark brown, slightly warty; coma white to yellowish-white, 11–20 mm long. (from M.Sc thesis of L. Joubert, "A TAXONOMIC STUDY OF CRYPTOLEPIS (APOCYNACEAE) IN SOUTHERN AFRICA", University of the Free State) C. decidua is a dwarf-shrub. The leaves are usually oblong with obtuse to acute apices, small to medium sized, 9–45 x 1–6 mm, and slightly succulent. The flowers are solitary on contracted lateral branchlets, with pedicels 5–10 mm long. The corolla is violet and 8.5–11.5 mm long. The corona is filiform and slightly exserted. Follicles are erect, widely divaricate to horizontal, at 110°–180°, narrowly ovoid, 48–65 x 3–10 mm, apices attenuate. (from M.Sc thesis of L. Joubert, "A TAXONOMIC STUDY OF CRYPTOLEPIS (APOCYNACEAE) IN SOUTHERN AFRICA", University of the Free State) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
