- Family: Araliaceae Juss.
- Genus: Cussonia Thunb.
Cussonia arborea Hochst. ex A.Rich.
- Genus: Cussonia Thunb.
This species is accepted, and its native range is Tropical Africa.
Descriptions
According to Flora of Tropical East Africa
[FTEA]Araliaceae, J. R. Tennant. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1968
- Habit
- A tree up to 13 m. tall, with a bole up to 1 m. or more in diameter; bark thick and fissured, dark grey to reddish-grey.
- Leaves
- Leaves simple, deeply palmately lobed or digitately compound with sessile leaflets; petiole up to 45 cm. or longer and 8 mm. diameter, at first tomentose becoming tomentulose or subglabrous; leaflets or leaf-lobes 5–7, chartaceous to coriaceous, lanceolate to oblanceolate, ovate and obovate, sometimes rotund, up to 26 cm. long by 16 cm. wide, (1.2–)1.5–2.5 times as long as wide, acuminate to retuse at apex, cuneate to attenuate at base, with the margins crenate to serrulate (or subentire), occasionally irregularly so, velutinous above, tomentose below when young, becoming sparsely scabrid above and pubescent beneath (or occasionally entirely subglabrous) when mature.
- Inflorescences
- Flowering spikes up to about 20 together, mostly less than 10, up to 40 cm. long, sometimes galled (see note on p. 1); floral bracts narrowly lanceolate to broadly ovate, occasionally orbicular, often caudate, up to 5 mm. long, but sometimes obsolete except for tail, puberulous to densely pubescent.
- Fruits
- Fruits 3.5–4.5(–6.0) mm. long, glabrous or puberulous.
- Figures
- Fig. 1.
- Habitat
- Woodland, grouped-tree grassland; 300–2470 m.
- Distribution
- K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 T1 T2 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 U1 U3
According to Flora Zambesiaca
[FZ]Araliaceae, J. F. M. Cannon. Flora Zambesiaca 4. 1978
- Habit
- Robust tree up to 11 m.
- Leaves
- Leaves digitately compound (palmate in juvenile states) Petiole up to 50(87) cm. long, usually glabrous but sometimes somewhat puberulent in patches.
- Leaflets
- Leaflets 5–9(10), up to 27 × 8 cm., sessile but with long, very narrowly tapering cuneate bases, chartaceous to somewhat coriaceous, glabrous or with occasional hairs; apex acute to acuminate; margins more or less regularly serrate-crenate to more or less entire, rarely deeply and jaggedly cut.
- Inflorescences
- Flowering spikes up to 26 together, but frequently of c. 10–12, at first short and congested, but elongating as the flowers mature, and further as the fruit develop, up to 50 cm. in length. Axis of the spike densely puberulous; basal bracts broadly triangular.
- Flowers
- Flowers sessile with floral bracts that are conspicuous in the unexpanded spikes, but insignificant and more or less caducous before maturity.
- Stylopodium
- Stylopodium quite well developed; stigmatic surfaces very small, scarcely freely diverging at the tip.
- Fruits
- Fruit ovoid-cylindrical to subglobose, 4–5·5 × up to 4 mm., glabrous or more rarely puberulous.
According to Flora of Tropical East Africa under the synonym Cussonia kirkii
[FTEA]Araliaceae, J. R. Tennant. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1968
- Habit
- A tree to 11 m. tall with a bole of up to 0.75 m. diameter; bark deeply fissured and corky.
- Leaves
- Leaves digitately compound (occasionally not quite completely so); petiole up to 87 cm. long and 9 mm. diameter, but usually much smaller, mostly glabrous or somewhat hairy in places; leaflets 5–9(–10), sessile, chartaceous to coriaceous, lanceolate to oblanceolate, ovate and obovate, up to 23 cm. long by 10.5 cm. wide, (1¾–)2½–5½ times as long as wide, caudate to obtuse, very rarely emarginate, with a narrowly cuneate to much attenuated base, with crenate to serrate or virtually entire margins, glabrous or with scattered short hairs.
- Inflorescences
- Flowering spikes up to about 26 together, but mostly less than 12, up to 46 cm. long, sometimes galled (see note on p. 1); floral bracts similar to those of C. arborea.
- Fruits
- Fruits 4.0–5.5 (–7.0) mm. long, glabrous or puberulous.
According to Flora of West Tropical Africa under the synonym Cussonia barteri
[FWTA]Araliaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:2. 1958
- Habit
- A deciduous savannah tree; leaves and flower-spikes clustered at the ends of the thick branches
- Flowers
- Flowers greenish-white
- Fruits
- Ripe fruits whitish.
Images
Distribution
Native to:
Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Introduced into:
Senegal
Synonyms
Other Data
Cussonia arborea Hochst. ex A.Rich. appears in other Kew resources:
Herbarium Catalogue (20 records)
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 1, 1973 | Kirk, J. [4], Mozambique | K000350590 | ||
May 1, 1973 | Kirk, J. [s.n.], Mozambique | K000350591 | ||
Dalziel, J.M. [172], Nigeria | K000350568 | |||
Dalziel, J.M. [172], Nigeria | K000350569 | |||
Chevalier, A. [22185], Ivory Coast | K000350564 | |||
Schweinfurth, G. [No II 159] | K000350574 | |||
Schweinfurth, G. [No II 159] | K000350575 | |||
Schweinfurth, G. [1851] | K000350576 | |||
Schweinfurth, G. [1851] | K000350577 | |||
illegible [815], Togo | K000350567 | |||
Thompson, H.N. [LXI], Ghana | K000350565 | |||
Saunders, C. [805], Ghana | K000350566 | |||
Schimper, G.H.W. [1357], Ethiopia | K000350572 | |||
Schimper, G.H.W. [1357], Ethiopia | K000350573 | |||
Timberlake, J. [4933], Mozambique | K000545283 | |||
Timberlake, J. [s.n.], Malawi | K000614718 | |||
Milne-Redhead, E. [3718A], Tanzania | Cussonia kirkii | 34672.000 | ||
Milne-Redhead, E. [8274], Tanzania | Cussonia kirkii | K000350581 | Unknown type material | |
Milne-Redhead, E. [8274], Tanzania | Cussonia kirkii | K000350582 | ||
Milne-Redhead, E. [8274], Tanzania | Cussonia kirkii | K000350583 |
Bibliography
First published in Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 356 (1848)
Accepted by
- Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Brundu, G. & Camarda, I. (2013). The Flora of Chad: a checklist and brief analysis PhytoKeys 23: 1-18.
- Fischer, E., Rembold, K., Althof, A. & Obholzer, J. (2010). Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Kakamega forest, Western province, Kenya Journal of East African Natural History 99: 129-226.
- Timberlake, J.R., Bayliss, J., Alves, T., Francisco, J., Harris, T., Nangoma, D. & de Sousa, C. (2009). Biodiversity and Conservation of Mchese Mountain, Malawi. Report produced under the Darwin Initiative Award 15/036: 1-71. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
- Calane da Silva, M., Izdine, S. & Amuse, A.B. (2004). A Preliminary Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Mozambique: 1-184. SABONET, Pretoria.
- Frodin, D.G. & Govaerts, R. (2003 publ. 2004). World Checklist and Bibliography of Araliaceae: 1-444. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
- Lebrun, J.P., Toutain, B., Gaston, A. & Boudet, G. (1991). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Burkina Faso: 1-341. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
Literature
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
- Lebrun, J.P., Toutain, B., Gaston, A. & Boudet, G. (1991). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Burkina Faso: 1-341. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
- Lebrun, J.-P., Audru, J., Gaston, A. & Mosnier, M. (1972). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Tchad Méridional: 1-289. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
- Berhaut, J. (1971). Flore illustrée du Sénégal 1: 1-626. Gouvernement du Sénégal, Ministère du développement rural direction des eaux et forêta, Dakar.
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- F. White, Forest Flora of Northern Rhodesia p. 312 (1962).
- Dale & Greenway, Kenya Trees and Shrubs p. 52, fig. 10/B (1961).
- F. W. Andr., The Flowering Plants of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan 2: 356 (1952).
- J.P.M. Brenan, Check-lists of the Forest Trees and Shrubs of the British Empire no. 5, part II, Tanganyika Territory p. 59 (1949).
- Battiscombe & Dale, Trees and Shrubs of Kenya Colony p. 115 (1936)
- Lebrun in Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de l'État a Bruxelles 13: 14 (1934).
- A. Engler & O. Drude, Die Vegetation Der Erde, IX, Pflanzenwelt Afrikas 3 (2): 782, fig. 325 (1921).
- Harms in A. Engler & K. Prantl, Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 3 (8): 53 (1894).
- Hiern in Flora of Tropical Africa 3: 31 (1877).
- A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 336, t. 56 (1847).
Sources
Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Flora of West Tropical Africa
Flora of West Tropical Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0