Phyllanthus microdendron Müll.Arg.
var. asper Radcl.-Sm.

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Phyllanthus microdendron var. asper

Habit
Miombo woodland
Kalema area, Nkeyema District
Apr 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

Phyllanthus microdendron var. asper

Leaves
Miombo woodland
Kalema area, Nkeyema District
Apr 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

Phyllanthus microdendron var. asper

Flower
Miombo woodland
Kalema area, Nkeyema District
Apr 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

Phyllanthus microdendron var. asper

Flower
Miombo woodland
Kalema area, Nkeyema District
Apr 2023
Photo: Nick Wightman

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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms: Phyllanthus antunesii Pax
Common names:
Frequency: Occasional
Status: Native
Description:
A much branched monoecious annual or perennial herb or subshrub up to 60 cm tall. Lead shoots slightly rough. Lateral shoots 2-7 cm long, densely scabrid-papillose. Scale leaves 1 mm long, subulate. Foliage leaves distichous; petioles 0.5-0.75 mm long; stipules 1.5-2 mm long, linear-lanceolate; leaf blade 3-14 x 2-6 mm, elliptic, obtuse or subacute at apex and rounded-cuneate to slightly asymmetric at base, margins slightly thickened. Male flowers in few flowered cymules in the axils of the loweest half to three quarters of the lead shoot; pedicels 0.5 mm long; sepals 5, 1.5 x 1 mm, obovate-spathulate to rounded, white with a faint midrib; stamens 3, filaments united into a column 1-1.5 mm high. Female flowers solitary in the axils of the upper half to quarter of the lead shoot; pedicels 1 mm long extending to 2-3 mm in fruit and expanded apically; sepals 5, 2 x 1 mm, enlarging to 4 x 2-3 mm in fruit, ovate or elliptic, pale green with a white border; ovary stipitate, 6-lobed, smooth; styles 3, 0.6 mm long, ± free, divergent, bifid, the stigmas recurved. Fruit 2.5 x 4 mm, depressed-globose, ± smooth, enclosed by the persistent sepals. Seeds 1.8-1.9 x 1.5 x 1.4 mm, segmentiform, dark brown and with c. 17 longitudinal ridges on the dorsal facet and c. 12-14 concentric ridges on each ventral facet.
Type location:
Zambia, Kitwe
Notes:
Derivation of specific name: microdendron: small tree, referring to small tree-like habit;
asper: rough or harsh to the touch.
Habitat: In miombo woodland and Guibourtia, Baikiaeawoodland on Kalahari Sand
Altitude range: 1000 - 1250 m
Flowering time:Feb - May(-Jun)
Worldwide distribution:
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca): B,W
Zambian distribution (Provinces): Cb,W
Growth form(s): Shrub under 2 m.
Endemic status: Endemic
Red data list status: Lower Risk - least concern
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters: Display spot characters for this species
Literature:

Radcliffe-Smith, A. (1996). Euphorbiaceae Flora Zambesiaca 9(4) Page 83.

Other sources of information about Phyllanthus microdendron var. asper:

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Phyllanthus microdendron
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Phyllanthus microdendron
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Phyllanthus microdendron
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Phyllanthus microdendron
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Phyllanthus microdendron
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Phyllanthus microdendron
JSTOR Plant Science: Phyllanthus microdendron
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Phyllanthus microdendron
Plants of the World Online: Phyllanthus microdendron
Tropicos: Phyllanthus microdendron
Wikipedia: Phyllanthus microdendron


Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-24

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2024). Flora of Zambia: Species information: Phyllanthus microdendron var. asper.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=210630, retrieved 28 March 2024

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