''Monodora grandidieri '' 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

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. ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

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 ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

, and

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 ...

Henri Ernest Baillon Henri Ernest Baillon (; 30 November 1827 in Calais – 19 July 1895 in Paris) was a French botanist and physician. Baillon spent his academic career teaching natural history and publishing numerous works on botany. He was appointed to the Lé ...

, the French botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the French naturalist and explorer

Alfred Grandidier Alfred Grandidier (20 December 1836 – 13 September 1921) was a French natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer. From a very wealthy family, at the age of 20, he and his brother, Ernest Grandidier (1833–1912), undertook a ...

who collected the specimen Baillon examined. It has been reported to be used as a traditional medicine by the

Giriama The Giriama (also called Giryama) are one of the nine ethnic groups that make up the Mijikenda (which literally translates to "nine towns"). The Mijikenda occupy the coastal strip extending from Lamu in the north to the Kenya/Tanzania border in ...

and Digo people of Kenya.

Description

It is a tree reaching 12 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 leaves are 20–24 by 1.5–8.2 centimeters and come to a point at their tips. Its petioles are 2–3 millimeters long. Its flowers are solitary and appear before young leaves. 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 ...

2–5.7 centimeters 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 1–2 by 3–5.5 centimeters with wavy, densely hairy margins. The sepals curve backwards and are green or red with green veins. Its 6 petals are arranged in two rows of 3. The outer petals are light yellow with green or red highlights, curve backwards, and come to a point at their tips. The outer petals are 3.7–6.5 by 0.5–1.8 centimeters, have wavy margins, and are densely hairy on their outer surface. The inner petals are similarly colored, have a 0.7–0.9 centimeter long

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 1.2–1.6 centimeter wide blade. 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 1 millimeters long. Its smooth, green and white fruit are 5–7.5 by 4-4.5 centimeters in diameter. Its light brown seeds are 1.3–2.6 by 1-1.8 by 0.9–1.1 centimeters.

Reproductive biology

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

References

grandidieri Flora of Kenya Flora of Malawi Flora of Mozambique Flora of Somalia Flora of Tanzania Plants described in 1868 Traditional African medicine Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon {{annonaceae-stub