Plants photographed elsewhere in Namibia (not on Kyffhäuser)
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Sterculia africana (Lour.) Fiori var. africana


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Sterculia africana var africana

Image 1
Habit
13 Jun 2008

Sterculia africana var africana

Image 2
Bark
13 Jun 2008

Sterculia africana var africana

Image 3
Leaves
13 Jun 2008

Sterculia africana var africana

Image 4
Seed capsules
13 Jun 2008



Family: Sterculiaceae
Full name: Sterculia africana (Lour.) Fiori var. africana
ID status: Fairly certain
Afrikaans common name(s): Afrikaanse sterkastaiing, Bosluisboom
English common name(s): African star-chestnut, Tick tree
Synonym(s): -
Status: Native
Description: Medium sized tree with a stout trunk. Bark smooth silvery-grey, often mottled with purple-brown, peeling. Leaves crowded near the ends of branches, broadly ovate-cordate in outline, variously 3-5- lobed. Flowers in compact terminal panicles, greenish-yellow with reddish guide lines, appearing before the leaves; sexes separate on the same tree. Fruit consisting of 1-5 beaked carpels, each splitting down one side, golden velvety on the outside; mouth fringed with highly irritant hairs, which protect the blue-black, tick-like seeds. (from Flora of Zimbabwe website)

A fairly thick-stemmed tree. BARK smooth, white to cream, often red-brown or purple; peeling in papery strips or woody discs to reveal a green underbark. LEAVES simple, with 3–5 lobes, 50–140 mm long; dark olive-green, rough; conspicuously seven-veined. FLOWERS green-yellow with red stripes, cup-shaped, up to 25 mm in diameter. FRUIT a dry, woody capsule, up to 150 mm long; borne in clusters of 3–5; densely hairy, beaked, mouth fringed with irritating bristles; splitting along one seam to form a boat-shaped receptacle. SEEDS blue-grey with a small, white aril at base; attached at edge of opening between the bristles like engorged ticks. White-stemmed individuals may be confused with S. quinqueloba, which has larger and more deeply lobed leaves. (from Tree Atlas of Namibia)
Link(s) African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science
Kew Herbarium Catalogue
BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium
Züricher Herbarien
iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer)
iNaturalist (Namibia)
iNaturalist (southern Africa)
Flora of Zimbabwe
Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie
Tree Atlas of Namibia
Content last updated: 18 Apr 2024


Note: The identification of some of the plants on this website is not 100% certain. Any comments will be highly appreciated. I would also be willing to supply higher resolution images upon request. Please contact me at the e-mail address given below.

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