''Uvariopsis congolana'' 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

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 ...

family. 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 ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

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 ...

, and the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

. Émile De Wildeman, the botanist who first formally described the species using the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

''Thonnera congolana'', named it after the Belgian Congo now called the

, where the specimens he examined were collected near Makanza (then called Bangala) and Yambuya.

Description

It is tree reaching 10 meters in height. Its slender, egg-shaped to oblong, leathery leaves are 27-30 by 6.5-9.5 centimeters. The leaves have rounded to wedge-shaped bases and tapering tips with the tapering portion up to 3 centimeters long. The leaves are hairless. The leaves have around 12 pairs of secondary veins emanating from their midribs. The secondary veins arch and connect near the margins of the leaves. Its short petioles are 4-5 millimeters long. Its flowers occur clusters on the lower trunk. Each flower is on an slender, elongated pedicel up to 38 centimeters long. The pedicels have clasping

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 ...

s that are 2 millimeters long and covered in rust-colored hair. Its flowers are unisexual. Its flowers have two sepals that are 4 millimeters long and bent back. Male flowers have 3 triangular petals in a single

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...

. The petals are 2.2 by 1.7 centimeters. The petals are shallowly pointed and thickened toward their tips. Male flowers have

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 ...

s that consist of an anther without a stalk (filament). The anthers have two locules. Female flowers have 3 triangular petals in a single whorl. The petals are 2.2 by 1.7 centimeters. The petals are shallowly pointed and thickened toward their tips. Female flowers have hairy, irregularly cylindrical carpels that are truncated at the top. The carpels have indistinct stigmas. The fruit are oblong to elliptical, with wedge shaped bases and tips and are 5-8 by 2.5-3.2 centimeters. The surface of the fruit has prominent vein-like patterning.

Reproductive biology

The pollen of ''U. congolana'' is shed as permanent tetrads.

Distribution and habitat

It has been observed growing in rain forests.

Uses

Bioactive compounds extracted from its tissues, have been reported to have antiplasmodial activity in laboratory tests using cultured ''

Plasmodium falciparum ''Plasmodium falciparum'' is a Unicellular organism, unicellular protozoan parasite of humans and is the deadliest species of ''Plasmodium'' that causes malaria in humans. The parasite is transmitted through the bite of a female ''Anopheles'' mos ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q15366257 congolana Plants described in 1909 Flora of Cameroon Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Flora of Gabon Flora of the Republic of the Congo Taxa named by Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman