''Viridivia'' is a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

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

s belonging to the family

Passifloraceae The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera. They include trees, shrubs, lianas, and climbing plants, and are mostly found in tropical regions. The family takes its name from t ...

. It only contain one known species, ''Viridivia suberosa''. It is also in the subfamily Passifloroideae and tribe Paropsieae. It is native to

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

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 ...

. It grows within woodland on rocky outcrops.

Description

It is a small tree that can grow up to tall. It has older branches with longitudinally fissured cork-like bark. The young branches are spattered with short, stiff golden-yellow or brown hairs. It has

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

flowers, which appear before leaves grow. The flower are dense

racemes A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the shoo ...

at the end of short branches. They have 4

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'' ...

, which are imbricate (overlapping), sericeous silky with dense appressed hairs) on the outside and 3–7-nerved (or veined). It has 4 petals which are smaller than the sepals and 1-nerved. The corona is a short tubular shape, irregularly fimbriate (fringed) and with clavate (club shaped) whitish glands. It has 10-16

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 ...

, with the filaments (stamen stalks) free and hairy. The

anthers 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 oblong shaped. It has a globose (round-like shaped)

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

which is stipitate (stalked) with 1-locular (or compartment). It has 4–6 styles with fleshy, kidney-shaped stigmas. It has about 50 ovules. The seed capsule is subglobose shaped and stipitate. Inside the capsule, the seeds are ovoid, compressed, included in a cupulate (cup-shaped) aril (seed coating).

Taxonomy

In Zambia, it is commonly known as 'mulyansefu'. The genus name of ''Viridivia'' is in honour of Percy James Greenway (1897–1980), South African botanist at the agricultural research station and herbarium in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya. Note, the Latin for Green is ''viridis''. The

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

of ''suberosa'' means cork-like. Both the genus and the species were first described and published in Hooker's Icon. Pl. Vol.36 on table 3555 in 1956.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q10391761, from2=Q17558897 Passifloraceae Passifloraceae genera Monotypic Malpighiales genera Flora of Zambia Flora of Tanzania Plants described in 1956