''Myrianthus holstii'' is a plant species within the family

Urticaceae The Urticaceae are a family, the nettle family, of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus ''Urtica''. The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus ''Urtica'', ramie (''Boehmeria ...

''.'' It grows either as a shrub or tree. It is considered a

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

species but a monoecious tree has been observed.

Description

Species grows as a shrub or a tree, as a tree it can reach an height of 20 m. It has a spreading crown and a short trunk, and the base of the tree has strong stilt roots; the bark is light brown and the slash is pinkish in color. Leaves are palmately compound with 3 - 8 leaflets, the upper surface is commonly

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

while the veins on the lower surface is regularly covered in short minute hairs. Petiole and stipule are present, the petiole can reach up to 35 cm long and the stipule is caducous and can reach about 4 cm long. Leaflets can reach a length of 60 cm and width of about 32 cm, the outline is oblanceolate to oblong - elliptic and the margin tends to be subentire or serrate to dentate. Fuit is cone like with a hard outer surface, orange to yellow when ripe.

Distribution and habitat

Occurs in Central and East Africa, from the democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania southwards to Tanzania. Found in moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

environments or near rivers.

Ecology

The

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), also known as the African savanna elephant, is a species of elephant native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of three extant elephant species and, along with the African forest elephant, one ...

eastern gorilla The eastern gorilla (''Gorilla beringei'') is a critically endangered species of the genus ''Gorilla'' and the largest living primate. At present, the species is subdivided into two subspecies. There are 6,800 eastern lowland gorillas or Grauer ...

s and chimpanzees have been observed to eat the fruits of ''Myrianthus holstii'' and also strip the stems for foliage.

Uses

In ethnomedicine, a decoction of bark extracts of the species is used in the treatment of malaria and also as an anti cough medicine, while leaves are used as a

galactogogue A galactagogue, or galactogogue (from �αλακτ- milk, + ἀγωγός, leading), also known as a lactation inducer or milk booster, is a substance that promotes lactation in humans and other animals. It may be synthetic, plant-derived, or en ...

and also in the treatment of a variety of ailments including hearth issues and pregnancy complications.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15609579 Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of Mozambique holstii