Anthocleista grandiflora

Anthocleista grandiflora, commonly known as the forest fever tree, is a member of the family Gentianaceae. It is a tall, slender tree up to 30 m with a preference for forests in high rainfall areas. The leaves are very large, up to 100 cm x 50 cm, arranged in terminal clusters.

Forest fever tree
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Gentianaceae
Genus: Anthocleista
Species:
A. grandiflora
Binomial name
Anthocleista grandiflora

Range and habitat

It is native to the mountains and escarpments of eastern Africa, from Uganda and Kenya in the north to South Africa and Swaziland in the south. In Zimbabwe it is limited to the Eastern Highlands and in South Africa it occurs mostly along rivers in and below the escarpment, and less often in lowveld riparian fringes. It is the only member of the Gentianaceae that reaches tree size in South Africa.[1]

References

  1. Schmidt, Ernst; Mervyn Lotter, Warren McCleland; scientific editor, John Burrows; illustrations, Sandie Burrows (2002). Trees and shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park. Johannesburg: Jacana. p. 546. ISBN 191977730X.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.