Leea guineensis

• Overview
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Ornamental shrub from tropical Africa with leaves 3-4 compound , often coppery or purplish; flowers purplish to red; and fruit dark red, about half an inch in diameter.

Common Names

Description

Family Leeaceae

Shrubs , small trees , scramblers , or rarely large perennial herbs. Stems unarmed or with rows of prickles; tendrils absent. Leaves 1-4-pinnate to 3-foliolate or simple ; stipules sheathing petiole margins with conspicuous , persistent or caducous stipular wings; leaflets glabrous to pubescent with simple hairs, crenate to serrate to dentate at margin, teeth with small glandular apex, lower surface usually with specialized multicellular , stellate or globular caducous "pearl" glands . Inflorescences paniculate , often corymbiform , terminal or axillary , erect or pendulous. Flowers hermaphroditic , (4 or) 5-merous. Calyx campanulate with triangular lobes and glandular tips. Petals valvate , apically often cucullate , reflexed at anthesis , basally connate , adnate to staminodial tissue and lower portion of floral disk; floral disk tubular , intrastaminal . Stamens 4 or 5, antepetalous , alternating with lobes of floral disk; anthers tetrasporangiate and 2-locular, introrse and sometimes appearing extrorse . Ovary superior but sometimes partly sunken in disk, 2-3(-5) -carpellate but with a secondary septum in each carpel and 4-6(-10) -locular; ovule 1 per locule, anatropous , bitegmic and crassinucellate ; style elongate ; stigma discoid and capitate. Fruit a berry, rather dry, depressed subglobose, purple, black, or orange. Seeds endotestal; endosperm ruminate with roughly 5 ingrowths; embryo linear . 2n = 24 or 48 (rarely 20, 22, or 28) .

One genus and ca. 34 species; widespread in tropical and subtropical Asia, extending into the Himalayan region and Australia, two species in Africa and Madagascar; ten species (two endemic) in China.[1]

Genus Leea

Erect shrubs or small trees . Leaves alternate, 1-4-pinnate, rarely simple or 3-foliolate. Inflorescences compound dichasial or umbelliform. Flowers 4- or 5-merous, bisexual . Lower part of petals adnate to staminodial tube on disk. Apex of staminodial tube 5-lobed, connate to each other by thinner tissue to form sinuses; apex of lobes retuse or 2-lobed, retusely apiculate to bifid. Filaments flattened, light brown, alternating with staminodial lobes, curved inward; anthers inverted and packed within staminodial tube in bud; filaments straight and anthers long-exserted in open flower. Disk deeply cupulate . Ovary discoid , 4-6(-10) -locular; ovule 1 per locule; style short; stigma slightly thickened. Berry depressed-subglobose, 4-6(-10) -seeded. Endosperm ruminate .

Geographic distribution is the same as that of the family .[2]

Physical Description

Biology

Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Light Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Place of publication : Gen. hist. 1:712. 1831

Name verified on 22-Aug-2006 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 22-Aug-2006

Similar Species

Members of the genus Leea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 126 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

L. aculeata · L. acuminata · L. acuminatissima · L. adwivedica · L. aequata · L. agusanensis · L. alata · L. amabilis · L. angulata · L. arborea · L. asiatica · L. aspera · L. banahaensis · L. biserrata · L. bracteata · L. brunoniana · L. bulusanensis · L. capitata · L. catanduanensis · L. cinerea · L. coccinea (West Indian Holly) · L. coccinea 'Rubra' (West Indian Holly) · L. compactiflora · L. congesta · L. cordata · L. coryphantha · L. crispa · L. cumingii · L. curtisii · L. cuspidifera · L. dentata · L. dielsii · L. diffusa · L. divaricata · L. edgeworthii · L. erecta · L. euphlebia · L. expansa · L. forbesii · L. fuliginosa · L. gigantea · L. glabra · L. gonioptera · L. gracilis · L. grandifolia · L. guineense · L. guineensis · L. guineensis 'Burgundy' · L. herbacea · L. heterodoxa · L. hirsuta · L. hirta · L. hispida · L. horrida · L. indica · L. integrifolia · L. javanica · L. krukoffiana · L. latifolia · L. linearifolia · L. longifolia · L. longifoliola · L. longipetiolata · L. lucida · L. luzonensis · L. macrophylla · L. macropus · L. magnifolia · L. manillensis · L. micholitzii · L. monophylla · L. naumanni · L. negrosense · L. negrosensis · L. nitida · L. nova-guineensis · L. ottilis · L. palawanensis · L. palembanica · L. pallida · L. pallidifolia · L. papillosa · L. papuana · L. parallela · L. parva · L. parvifoliola · L. pauciflora · L. philippinensis · L. pinnata · L. platyphylla · L. polyphylla · L. pumila · L. pycnantha · L. quadrifida · L. ramosii · L. robusta · L. rodatzii · L. roehrsiana · L. rubra (West Indian Holly) · L. sambucina

More Info

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Further Reading

• Annuaire du Conservatoire et du jardin botaniques de Genve. Genve: Georg & Cie, 1897-1919/1922. FRE url p. 91.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: The Museum, 1951-1992. ENG url p. 365.
• Carrisso, L. W. et al., eds. 1937–. Conspectus florae angolensis. (F Angol)
• Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960–. Flora zambesiaca. (F Zamb)
• Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984–. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim. (F Bhutan)
• Hajra, P. K. et al., eds. 1999–. Flora of Andaman-Nicobar Islands. (F Andaman Nicobar)
• Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. (Dict Gard)
• Judd, W.S., Campbell, C.S., Kellog, E.A. and Donoghue, M.J. (2002): Plant Systematics: a phylogenetic approach, Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass.
• Just's botanischer jahresbericht. Systematisch geordnetes repertorium der botanischen literatur aller länder. Berlin, Gebr. Borntraeger, 1874-98; GER url p. 243, p. 597.
• Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953–1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2. (F WT Afr)
• Liberia, by Sir Harry Johnston. With an appendix on the flora of Liberia, by Dr. Otto Stapf; 28 coloured illustrations by Sir Harry Johnston, 24 botanical drawings by Miss Matilda Smith, 402 black and white il London, Hutchinson, 1906. ENG url p. 590.
• Ridsdale, C. E. 1974. A revision of the family Leeaceae. Blumea 22:93.
• Sharma, B. D. et al., eds. 1993–. Flora of India. (F India)
• Staples, G. W. & D. R. Herbst. 1996. Nomenclatural changes affecting cultivated plants. I. Baileya 23:176.
• Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948–. Flora malesiana. (F Males)
• Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952–. Flora of tropical East Africa. (F TE Afr)
• Li Chaoluan. 1998. Leea. In: Li Chaoluan, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 48(2): 3-12.
• Li Chaoluan. 1998. Leea. In: Li Chaoluan, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 48(2): 3-12.

Notes

Contributors

• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed December 01, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 5 providers.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (May 04, 2008)

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 01, 2007:

• Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility, Magnoliophyta

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3477736
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 16077911
• GRIN Nomen Number: 315504
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 68307-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 707253

Footnotes

1. Prof. Zhiduan Chen & Jun Wen "Leeaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 12 Page 115, 169. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Leea". in Flora of China Vol. 12 Page 169, 173. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

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