Sclerocroton oblongifolius (Müll. Arg.) Kruijt & Roebers

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Habit
Degraded miombo woodland on Kalahari sand
Lubinda Village, Kaoma Distr., Western Prov.
Feb 2021
Photo: Nick Wightman

Fruit
Degraded miombo woodland on Kalahari sand
Lubinda Village, Kaoma Distr.
Feb 2021
Photo: Nick Wightman

Seeds
Degraded miombo woodland on Kalahari sand
Lubinda Village, Kaoma Distr.
Apr 2021
Photo: Nick Wightman

Leaves
Open scrubland next to livestock paddock area on Kalahari sandd
Mwenda Village, Kakanda, Kaoma Distr.
Apr 2021
Photo: Nick Wightman

Inflorescence
Open scrubland next to livestock paddock area on Kalahari sandd
Mwenda Village, Kakanda, Kaoma Distr.
Apr 2021
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:	Excoecaria oblongifolia Müll. Arg. Sapium oblongifolium (Müll. Arg.) Pax Sapium suffruticosum Pax.
Common names:
Frequency:	Locally common
Status:	Native
Description:	Monoecious glabrous subshrub with one or more erect simple or sparingly branched stems 20-30(60) cm tall growing from a slender horizontal woody rootstock; leaves petiolate, petioles 2-9 mm long, leaf blades (1.5)3-6(8) x (0.5)1-3.5 cm, usually oblong and parallel-sided, sometimes oblong-lanceolate with sides not parallel, subacute to obtuse or retuse at the apex, rounded or truncate at the base, margins subentire or shallowly serrate with forward directed teeth, with 1-2 glands towards the base and sometimes also glandular near the margin towards the apex and elsewhere, thinly coriaceous with 8-15 pairs of lateral nerves slightly prominent beneath and scarcely so above; stipules 2-7 mm long, linear and laciniate at the base but otherwise entire, ciliate, deciduous; inflorescence terminal on the main axis often overtopped by a succession of lateral shoots or sometimes leaf opposed, (1)2-4(7) cm long with a peduncle up to 1.5 cm long, all male or with 1(2) female flowers at the base; male bracts broad, encircling half the axis and often somewhat 3-lobed with broadly triangular lobes, acute and irregularly denticulate, ciliolate and fleshy at the base, glandular within, 3(5)-flowered; male flowers with pedicel 1 mm long, calyx lobes 3, 0.5-1 mm long, ovate and irregularly denticulate-ciliolate, yellowish-green; female bracts rather more deeply 3-lobed than male bracts; female flowers with pedicels 2-4 mm long, extending to 7-10 mm in fruit, calyx lobes larger than in male flowers and with alternating sessile glands, ovary 2 mm in diameter, 3-lobed with each lobe bearing 2 triangular-lanceolate appendages 1-1.5 mm long, styles 3, 4 mm long and connate at the base; fruit 1.2 x 1.6 cm, green with reddish or purplish tinged to dark purplish-brown, 3-lobed, septicidally dehiscent in 3 bivalved cocci, each valve bearing a triangular appendage 1-2 mm long; seeds 6-7 x 4-5 mm, ovoid-ellipsoid, smooth, shiny, pale grey mottled blackish, ecarunculate.
Type location:	Angola
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	oblongifolium: with oblong-shaped leaves
Habitat:	On Kalaharia Sands in ground layer of miombo and mixed deciduous woodlands, also on dambo margins under Parinari, Isoberlinia, Julbernardia, and Brachystegia
Altitude range: (metres)	1000 - 1060 m
Flowering time:	Sep - Feb
Worldwide distribution:	Angola, DRC and Zambia
National distribution:	B,W,S
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	Nw,S,W
Growth form(s):	Shrub under 2 m.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Images last updated:	Monday 17 May 2021
Literature:	Radcliffe-Smith, A. (1996). Euphorbiaceae Flora Zambesiaca 9(4) Page 320. as Sapium oblongifolium

Other sources of information about Sclerocroton oblongifolius:

External websites:

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