''Monodora crispata'' 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 family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

. It is native to

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with ...

, the German 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 its curled ( in Latin) petal margins.

Description

It is a tree reaching 20 meters in height with dark brown bark with

lenticel A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the Bark (botany), bark of woody stems and roots of gymnosperms and dicotyledonous flowering plants. It func ...

s. Its hairless, dark green, membranous to leathery, oval to elliptical leaves are 5-17 by 2.5-6 centimeters. The tips of the leaves taper to a point and the bases are rounded or pointed. The leaves have 9-13 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. Its petioles are 3-7 by 1-1.5 millimeters and have a groove on their upper surface. It has solitary flowers, positioned opposite from leaves, that hang down. Each flower is born on a hairless, dark green

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 20-50 by 0.9-0.7 millimeters. The pedicels have an upper, hairless, oval, green

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

that is 6-15 by 5-9 millimeters. The base of the bract runs down the pedicel, its tip is pointed, and its edges are wavy. It has 3 oval, green, hairless

sepal 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'' ...

s are 5-18 by 3-6 millimeters. The sepals have flat bases, pointed tips and wavy edges. Its flowers have 6 petals in two rows of three. The outer petals are white at their base, transitioning to yellow with red-brown highlights near their tips. The, hairless, oblong outer petals are 35-70 by 6-20 millimeters. The outer petals have flat bases, tapering tips and strikingly curled margins for which the species is named. The heart-shaped to triangular inner petals are 4-17 by 6-20 millimeters and white to yellow with red highlights near the margins. The inner petals have heart-shaped bases and pointed tips. The edges of the inner petals touch one another and are curled. The faces of the inner petals are covered in short, straight hairs, and their margins have short curly hairs. The inner petals have a basal, hairless, bright yellow

claw A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or Arthro ...

below the blade that is 3-8 by 1-3 millimeters. Its flowers have 9-11 rows of

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 ...

that are 0.5-1 millimeters long. The stamen filaments extend above the anthers to form a shield. Its

carpels Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ...

are fused forming an ovary wall that is 1.5 millimeters wide. Its hairless stigma are 1.5-2 millimeters in diameter. The fruit are born on hairless, woody

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the 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 branch ...

that are 3-5 by 4-10 millimeters. The hairless, conic fruit are 6-15 by 3.5-5 centimeters with a pointed tip. The fruit have 6-7 prominent ribs and green-grey. The fruit have white pulp with elliptical, smooth, light brown seeds that are 10-13 by 5-9 millimeters.

Reproductive biology

Due to its classification, ''Monodora crispata'' is an

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...

in the phylum magnoliophyta. This means that this tree has a specific pattern or reproduction. There are four flower parts that are essential to the reproduction of this plant. These parts are sepals, petals, stamen and carpels. ''Monodora crispata'' is a monecious plant meaning that it has both female and male reproductive parts on the same individual. Therefore, each flower has both stamen and a carpel. Angiosperms reproduce through micro and mega spores which then form into micro and mega gametes. The microgamete travels out of the stamen into the carpel to meet with the mega gamete. This is where fertilization happens, and fruit is born. The pollen of ''M. crispata '' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in sandy soils in secondary rain forests and along streams, at elevations from 0-400 meters.

Uses

It is grown as an ornamental tree. Its wood is used in construction and its seeds have aromatic qualities.There is emerging research about the leaf composition of this tree and other members of the

Monodora ''Monodora'' is a genus 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 chloroplas ...

group. Many close relatives have been researched and found to have medicinal properties, but ''Monodora'' ''Crispata'' doesn't have many chemicals isolated from it yet.The newest isolated compound from these leaves is (-
xylopinine

References

Flora of Cameroon Flora of Equatorial Guinea Flora of Gabon Flora of Ghana Flora of Guinea Flora of Ivory Coast Flora of Liberia Flora of Sierra Leone Plants described in 1899 Taxa named by Adolf Engler crispata {{annonaceae-stub