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Wrightia lanceolata

Overview

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Vulnerable
Threat status

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 Wrightia

Trees or shrubs with latex. Leaves opposite, petiolate ; glands axillary . Cymes terminal or subterminal , dichasial, few to many flowered. Sepals quincuncial, with 5-10, basal, scalelike glands inside. Corolla salverform , funnelform , subrotate, or rotate, tube cylindric to campanulate ; lobes overlapping to left; corona ligulate , fringed , or cup-shaped, entire or subentire at apex, shallowly or deeply divided , sometimes absent. Stamens inserted at middle , apex, or rarely base of corolla tube; anthers sagittate , connivent and adherent to pistil head , exserted, spurred at base; disc absent. Ovaries 2, distinct or connate ; ovules numerous in each locule. Style filiform ; pistil head ovoid , usually dilated at base. Follicles 2, connate or divaricate . Seeds narrowly fusiform , with an apical coma directed toward fruit base, beakless.

About 23 species: tropical Africa, Asia, Australia; six species in China.[2]

Habitat

Ecology: This tree grows in dry rocky areas on limestone up to 300 m. [3]

Taxonomy

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Similar Species

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Members of the genus Wrightia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 59 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

W. afzelii · W. alba · W. angustifolia · W. annamensis · W. antidysenterica (Winter Cherry Tree) · W. arborea · W. balansae · W. boranensis · W. calycina · W. cambodiensis · W. candollei · W. coccinea · W. cunninghamii · W. demartiniana · W. dubia (Red Wrightia) · W. hainanensis · W. hamiltoniana · W. hanleyi · W. indica · W. javanica · W. kwangtungensis · W. laevis · W. laevis millgar · W. laevis subsp. millgar · W. lanceolata · W. laniti · W. lecomtei · W. macrocarpa · W. millgar · W. mollissima · W. nana · W. natalensis · W. novobritannica · W. ovata · W. parviflora · W. pubescens · W. pubescens lanitii · W. pubescens novobritannica · W. pubescens subsp. penicillata · W. pubescens subsp. pubescens · W. pubescens var. penicillata · W. religiosa (Wondrous Wrightia) · W. rothii · W. rubriflora · W. saligna · W. schlechteri · W. sikkimensis · W. sirikitiae · W. sorsogonensis · W. spanogheana · W. stuhlmannii · W. superba · W. tinctoria · W. tomentosa (Wrightia) · W. tomentosa var. cochinchinensis · W. versicolor · W. vietnamensis (Dwarf Sacred Buddhist) · W. viridiflora · W. zeylanica

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. "Wrightia". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 174. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008. [back]
Last Revised: 2009-07-03