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Euphorbia zambesiana
zambesiana
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Habit
Railway track
Nyama area, Kabwe Distr.
Jan 2022
Photo: Nick Wightman
Railway track
Nyama area, Kabwe Distr.
Jan 2022
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: |
Chamaesyce zambesiana (Benth.) Koutnik Euphorbia poggei Pax |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | Occasional |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Perennial herb growing from a woody twisted root c. 1 cm thick and c. 25 cm long and producing several woody underground stems to 3 cm long and branching profusely at ground level, plants glabrous or densely pilose; branches densely rebranching, leafy and prostrate, up to 35 cm long, floriferous and erect to c. 5 cm high, often tinged red; leaves with petiole 2 mm long, 35 x 9 mm, lanceolate to ovate, minutely apiculate at apex, obliquely subcordate at base, margins entire or minutely toothed; cyathia terminal and pseudoaxillary, solitary on peduncles 1-25 mm long, 2 x 2.5 mm with broadly cup-shaped involucres; glands 4 in bisexula cyathia, or sometimes 5 in male only flowers, c. 1 mm wide, transversely elliptic, red with conspicuous white or pink appendages to 1.5 x 2 mm, entire or shallowly 2-3 lobed; involucral lobes 0.8 mm long with ciliate margins; male flowers many, bracteoles deeply laciniate, apices ciliate, stamens 2 mm long; female flowers with pedicellate ovary, style 1 mm long, erect, bifid to halfway; capsule exerted on a reflexed pedicel c. 5.5 mm long, 3 x 3 mm, deeply 3-lobed; seeds 1.75 x 1.25 mm, ovate-conical, deeply pitted, reddish-buff. Var. zambesiana differs in plants entirely glabrous and with lanceolate to ovate leaves 35 x 9 mm; whereas, var. villosula has plants entirely densely pilose with long spreading hairs, or at least some hairs present on stems, leaves and capsules and ovate to ovate-lanceolate leaves 12 x 7 mm. |
| Type location: |
Malawi |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | zambesiana: of the Zambezi region |
| Habitat: | Open miombo, wooded grassland and montane grassland, often on laterite |
| Altitude range: | 400 - 2150 m |
| Flowering time: | Apr - Sep |
| Worldwide distribution: | Angola and DRC through Zambia, Burundi and Rwanda to Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique |
| Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca): | N,W,C |
| Zambian distribution (Provinces): | Cb,Lp,C |
| Growth form(s): | Perennial. |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Content last updated: | Wednesday 18 May 2022 |
| Literature: |
Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 146. (Includes a picture). Carter, S. & Leach, L.C. (2001). Euphorbiaceae: subfamily Euphorbioideae: tribe Euphorbieae Flora Zambesiaca 9(5) Pages 355 - 359. (Includes a picture). Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A Checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mount Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34 National Botanic Garden of Belgium Page 87. |
Other sources of information about Euphorbia zambesiana var. zambesiana:
Our websites:
Flora of Malawi: Euphorbia zambesiana var. zambesianaFlora of Mozambique: Euphorbia zambesiana var. zambesiana
External websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Euphorbia zambesianaAfrican Plant Database: Euphorbia zambesiana
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Euphorbia zambesiana
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Euphorbia zambesiana
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Euphorbia zambesiana
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Euphorbia zambesiana
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Euphorbia zambesiana
JSTOR Plant Science: Euphorbia zambesiana
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Euphorbia zambesiana
Plants of the World Online: Euphorbia zambesiana
Tropicos: Euphorbia zambesiana
Wikipedia: Euphorbia zambesiana
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