''Chlorocyathus monteiroae'' is a species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

in the

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

family. It is native to

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. Daniel Oliver, the botanist who first

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

the species named it after Rose Monteiro who collected the specimen he examined from

Maputo Bay Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

(then known as Delagoa Bay).

Description

It is a woody climbing plant. Its roots have rounded to cylindrical tubers that are 10–30 by 3–7 centimeters. The tubers exude a white latex when cut. Its slender, branching stems are up to 8 meters long are covered in soft hairs. Its leaves are positioned opposite one another on the stems. Its fleshy, egg-shaped to elliptical leaves are 10–60 by 5–30 millimeters and covered both surfaces in soft hairs. The leaves are dark green above and pale green below. The tips of the leaves are pointed to blunt and the bases are wedge-shaped to blunt. Its petioles are 1–10 millimeters long. Adjacent petioles have ridges between them on the stem that sometimes have secretory colleters. Its softly-haired

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s have 1–5 flowers. The inflorescences have peduncles that are 5–20 millimeters long. Each flower is on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

that is 2–10 millimeters long. The pedicels have egg-shaped bracts that are 1–3 millimeters long. Its flowers have 5 egg-shaped

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

that are 2–4 by 1–2 millimeters with pointed tips. The undersides of the sepals are covered in soft hairs. Its 5 bright to light green petals are fused at the base forming a ribbed, cylindrical to bell-shaped, 4–6 millimeter-long tube. The egg-shaped petal lobes are 6–12 by 3–5 millimeters with tips that are pointed to blunt and margins that are folded back. The petals are covered in soft hairs on their outer surface. The flowers have a ring-like structure between the petals and its

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

called a corona. The foot of the corona is fused to the base of petal lobes. Its corona has 5 fleshy, pink to purple, lobes that are about 1 millimeter long. Between the lobes are cream-colored to white, thread-like projections that are 2–3 millimeters long. The flowers have 5

with filaments that are 1–2 millimeters long egg-shaped anthers that are 2–3 millimeter long with tapering tips. The anthers are fused to the stigma. Its flowers have 5

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

ies around the base of the style. The flowers have 2

ovaries The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are endocr ...

that are about 1 millimeter long. The flowers have slender, cylindrical styles that are 2–3 millimeters long with a blunt stigma. Its fruit occur in pairs positioned pointing away from one another horizontally. The very narrow, oval fruit are 7–11 by 0.7 centimeters with tapering tips. Its egg-shaped to diamond-shaped seeds are 7 millimeters long. The seeds are tufted with white hairs that are 2.5–3 centimeters long.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''Chlorocyathus lobulata'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Distribution and habitat

It has been observed growing dry savanna in sandy, or loamy or clay-loam soils at elevations up to 1700 meters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q15399462 Periplocoideae Plants described in 1887 Taxa named by Daniel Oliver Flora of Angola Flora of Kenya Flora of Mozambique Flora of Namibia Flora of South Africa Flora of Tanzania Flora of Zimbabwe