''Monodora globiflora'' 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

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 ...

. Thomas Couvreur, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its inner petals that touch one another, but are not fused, and form a globe-shaped structure.

Description

It is a tree reaching 4 meters in height. Its branches have

lenticels A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of gymnosperms and dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore ...

. Its papery leaves are 12-13 by 4-5 centimeters and come to a point at their tips. The leaves are smooth on their upper and lightly hairy on their lower surfaces. Its petioles are 8 millimeters long. Its pendulous flowers are solitary and axillary. Each flower is on a thin, lightly hairy

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 ...

40-45 millimeters long. Its flowers have 3

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 8-10 by 6-8 millimeters long with densely hairy margins. Its 6 petals are arranged in two rows of 3. The smooth outer petals are light yellow with red highlights, or light green with dark green highlights, and curve slightly backwards. The outer petals are 28-32 by 18-23 millimeters and have wavy margins. The inner petals have a 3-5 by 2-4 millimeter

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 ...

at their base and a 7-8 by 10-12 millimeter blade, and are the same color as the outer petals. Its

stamens 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 filamen ...

are 0.8 millimeters long. Its smooth fruit are 4-5 centimeters in diameter. Its seeds are 15 by 7 millimeters.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''M. globiflora'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Habitat and distribution

It has been observed growing in sandy soils in sparse mountain forests, at elevations from 1700 to 2000 meters.

References

globiflora Flora of Tanzania Plants described in 2006 {{annonaceae-stub