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Strophanthus wallichii

(Strophanthus)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Strophanthus

Description

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Family Apocynaceae

Trees , shrubs , or vines , rarely subshrubs or herbs, with latex or rarely watery juice. Leaves simple , opposite, rarely whorled or alternate, pinnately veined; stipules absent or rarely present. Inflorescences cymose , terminal or axillary , with bracteoles. Flowers bisexual , 5- [or 4]-merous, actinomorphic . Calyx 5- or rarely 4-partite, quincuncial, basal glands usually present. Corolla 5- or rarely 4-lobed, salverform , funnelform , urceolate , or rarely rotate, lobes overlapping to right or left, rarely valvate . Stamens 5 or rarely 4; filaments short; anthers mostly sagittate , free or connivent into a cone adherent to pistil head , dehiscing longitudinally, base rounded , cordate, sagittate, or prolonged into an empty spur; pollen granular ; disc ringlike or cup-shaped, 2-5-lobed, or absent. Ovaries superior, rarely half-inferior, connate or distinct , 1- or 2-locular; ovules (1 or) 2-numerous per locule. Style 1; pistil head capitate, conical , or lampshade-shaped, base stigmatic, apex 2-cleft and not stigmatic . Fruit a berry, drupe, capsule, or follicle. Seeds with or without coma; endosperm thick and often horny , scanty, sometimes absent; embryo straight or nearly so, cotyledons often large, radicle terete .

About 155 genera and 2000 species distributed primarily in the tropics and subtropics, poorly represented in the temperate regions . Of the 44 genera and 145 species present in China, one genus and 38 species are endemic, and nearly 95% of the taxa grow in the southern and southwestern portions of the country.

Fruit type is highly diversified in the family , and it is diagnostic of many genera. Genera 1-4 produce 1, 2-celled berries from a flower; genus 5 produces 2, 1-celled berries from a flower; 6 and 7 produce mostly fleshy follicles containing deeply indented seeds with ruminate endosperm; 8 has follicles and winged seeds; 9 produces follicles and seeds with 2 comas; 10-12 have follicles with globose seeds; 13-18 have drupes mostly with fleshy mesocarp; 19 has samaroid fruit; 20 has spiny capsules with seeds winged all around; and 21-44 have free or fused follicles and comose seeds. Double flowers are known only from cultivated forms of Nerium oleander, Tabernaemontana divaricata, and Wrightia religiosa.

Plants of the Apocynaceae are often poisonous and are rich in alkaloids or glycosides, especially in the seeds and latex. Some species are valuable sources of medicine, insecticides , fibers, and rubber.[1]

Genus Strophanthus

Lianas or erect or stolon-bearing shrubs , rarely trees , with latex. Leaves opposite or in whorls of 3. Cymes mostly dichasial, terminal , pedunculate or sessile. Flowers large. Sepals free or connate at base , imbricate or quincuncial, basal glands 5 to many. Corolla funnelform , usually turning darker and dark streaked at anthesis ; tube short, throat wide; lobes overlapping and mostly twisted to right , distal portions mostly forming filiform , involute long tails; corona 10-lobed, inserted at base of corolla lobes. Stamens inserted at apex of corolla tube; filaments short; anthers sagittate , connivent, adherent to pistil head , spurred at base; disc absent. Ovaries 2, ± connate at base; ovules numerous in each locule. Style filiform. Follicles 2, divaricate . Seeds numerous, with beaked apical coma.

Thirty-eight species: tropical Africa, Asia; six species in China.[2]

Physical Description

Species Strophanthus wallichii

Lianas woody, to 8 m , glabrous except for inflorescences, latex white. Trunk to 8 cm in diam.; branches sparsely to densely lenticellate . Petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade elliptic or obovate , 4-13 2.5-6 cm, papery ; lateral veins 5-9 pairs, base cuneate or rarely rounded . Cymes 5-25-flowered, puberulent to glabrous; peduncle to 7.5 cm; bracts 2 or 3 pairs, linear , 4-15 mm, spreading or recurved, puberulent. Pedicel 4-10 mm. Sepals linear or nearly so, 0.6-1.8 cm, puberulent on both sides. Corolla pinkish; tube 1-1.5 cm, puberulent inside, glabrous outside; lobes ovate , abruptly narrowed to tail, 1.8-5.5 cm, tail ca. 1 mm wide, glabrous to sparsely puberulent inside; corona lobes triangular, 2.8-6.5 mm. Stamens puberulent; filaments 6-8.5 mm, connective linear, exserted, 8.5-12.5 mm. Ovary minutely puberulent. Style 6-8.5 mm. Follicles oblong , 11-25 2.5-3 cm, woody, densely lenticellate, divergent at 180°. Seeds 1-1.8 cm, beak 2.2-4.4 cm, coma 5.5-9 cm. Fl. Mar-Jun, fr. Jul-Dec. 2n = 22. [source]

Habitat

Mixed woods , brushwoods; 500-1500 m [3].

Taxonomy

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Notes

Place of publication : Prodr. 8:418. 1844

Name verified on 26-Dec-2006 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 26-Dec-2006

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Strophanthus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 10 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

S. bovinii (Wood Shaving Flower) · S. eminii (Emin's Strophanthus) · S. gratus (Climbing Oleander) · S. hispidus (Hispid Strophanthus) · S. kombe (Kombe Arrow Poison) · S. preussii (Poison Arrow Vine) · S. sarmentosus (Strophanthus) · S. speciosus (Corkscrew Flower) · S. thollonii (Thollon's Strophanthus) · S. wallichii (Strophanthus)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Bingtao Li, Antony J. M. Leeuwenberg & David J. Middleton "Apocynaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 143. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Strophanthus". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 177. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Strophanthus wallichii". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 179. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/16/2012