''Carpolobia'' is a genus of plants in the milkwort family (

Polygalaceae The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in on ...

) that are native to tropical Africa and Madagascar. It was first written about in 1831 by

George Don George Don (29 April 1798 – 25 February 1856) was a Scottish botanist and plant collector. Life and career George Don was born at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland on 29 April 1798 to Caroline Clementina Stuart and George Don (b.1756), pr ...

, at which point 4 species were identified. In 1849, the number of accepted species went down to 2. The other 2 became part of the

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

family. The two species that remained, '' C. alba'' and '' C. lutea'', were described as closely resembling each other. It was initially in the Polygaleae tribe before being split off in 1992 along with the genus

Atroxima ''Atroxima'' is a plant genus in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is endemism, endemic to Western Tropical Africa. It was first described in 1905 by Otto Stapf (botanist), Otto Stapf in the ''Journal of the Linnean Society''. It was initial ...

to form the new tribe of Carpolobieae.

Description

''Carpolobia'' are shrubs, small trees, or

lianas A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

. They produce flowers with 5 petals. Its fruit are smooth,

drupaceous In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

, and

uni- Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example: * triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, oc ...

to tri-locular. They are and yellow to red-orange at maturity. The fruit's

endocarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

and

exocarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

are thin and its

mesocarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather tha ...

is fleshy.

Species

As of April 2024, there are 5 accepted species: *'' Carpolobia alba'' *'' Carpolobia gabonica'' *'' Carpolobia goetzei'' *'' Carpolobia gossweileri'' *'' Carpolobia lutea''

References

Polygalaceae Fabales genera Flora of the Afrotropical realm Taxa named by George Don {{Polygalaceae-stub