Tessmannia Harms

Description of the genus

Evergreen, unarmed trees. Leaves pinnate, ending in one leaflet or a pair; leaflets alternate, with pellucid gland dots (not always obvious in mature dried leaves); lateral veins looped into a submarginal vein; petiolules short, twisted; stipules intrapetiolar, often falling early. Inflorescences of terminal or axillary racemes or panicles. Flowers distichous on the inflorescence axis; bracts and bracteoles small, falling early. Sepals 4, narrowly imbricate, fulvous-sericeous inside. Petals 5, subequal, imbricate, clawed, lamina crinkled. Stamens usually 10 but sometimes fewer. Pods flattened, woody, short, apparently indehiscent, smooth or warty outside. Seeds 1–4.

Worldwide: 13 species in tropical Africa.

Zambia: 1 taxon.

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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
burttii Harms N,WDescription

Other sources of information about Tessmannia:

Our websites:

Flora of the DRC: Tessmannia

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Tessmannia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Tessmannia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Tessmannia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Tessmannia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Tessmannia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Tessmannia
JSTOR Plant Science: Tessmannia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Tessmannia
Plants of the World Online: Tessmannia
Tropicos: Tessmannia
Wikipedia: Tessmannia

Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Nicholas Wightman, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-25

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wightman, N., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2025). Flora of Zambia: Genus page: Tessmannia.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1962, retrieved 5 December 2025

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