Actephila excelsa
Description 2
Shrubs, 1-4 m tall; branches angular, pubescent, glabrescent, lenticellate with age. Leaves alternate, rarely subopposite; stipules nearly triangular, ca. 2 mm, puberulent; petiole 6-30 mm, sparsely pubescent; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 8-20 × 3-3.5 cm, abaxially paler, pubescent to glabrous, adaxially glabrous, base cuneate to obtuse, apex usually long acuminate; midrib elevated on both surfaces, lateral veins 9-12 pairs, obliquely ascendant, anastomosing near margin. Inflorescences with several male and/or 1 female flowers. Male flowers: pedicel to 2 mm; sepals 5, oblong, ca. 2.5 × 1 mm; petals spatulate, ca. 2 × 1 mm, greenish; disk 5-lobed; stamens 5, ca. 2 mm. Female flowers: pedicels 4-7 cm, lower part delicate, apically slightly thickened; sepals 5, elliptic or oblong, 2-3 mm, outside and margin puberulent, with minute adaxial basal hyaline appendages; petals 5, obovate or spatulate, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm; disk annular, thickened, entire; pistil 4-6 mm; ovary ovate, glabrous; styles 3, bifid. Fruiting pedicel 4-7.5 cm; persistent sepals to 4 mm; capsule oblate, ca. 1.5 × 2-2.5 cm in diam., exocarp brown, glabrous, endocarp yellowish white. Seeds 3-angled, ca. 10 × 0.9 cm. Fl. Feb-Sep, fr. Jul-Oct.
Sources and Credits
- (c) filibot.web, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/filibot/8046164624/
- (c) Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/5020067
