Pachystigma pygmaeum (Schltr.) Robyns

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Pachystigma pygmaeum

Picture: Bart Wursten
Chakoma, NE of Harare

Pachystigma pygmaeum

Picture: Bart Wursten
Chakoma, NE of Harare

Pachystigma pygmaeum

Picture: Bart Wursten
Chakoma, NE of Harare

Pachystigma pygmaeum

Picture: Bart Wursten
Chakoma, NE of Harare

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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms: Vangueria pygmaea Schltr.
Vangueria rhodesiana S. Moore
Common names:
Frequency:
Status: Native
Description:
Dwarf suffrutex, usually less than 20 cm tall, erect or prostrate, growing from a long rhizome. Leaves in pairs, rarely in whorls of 3, 4-10(16) cm long, oblong-elliptic to oblanceolate, more or less densely set with somewhat bristly hairs; petiole very short (0-7 mm). Flowers in axillary 3-7-flowered clusters, mostly at ground level; calyx set with bristly hairs; corolla greenish outside, creamy-white inside, lobes 4-6 mm long, narrowly triangular, with a greenish apical appendage. Fruit yellow-brown or black, 1.5-2 cm in diameter, subglobose to obliquely pear-shaped.
Type location:
South Africa
Notes: See Pygmaeothamnus zeyheri for a comparison with this species.
Derivation of specific name: pygmaeum: pygmy, dwarfed, very small.
Habitat: In open ground, in short grassland, near vleis and around pans, often on sandy soils and termite mounds.
Altitude range: 1100 - 2280 m
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution: Southern Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Limpopo, North-West and Mpumalanga, South Africa
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca): N,W,S
Zambian distribution (Provinces): Cb,N,S
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters: Display spot characters for this species
Literature:

Bridson, D.M. (1998). Rubiaceae, Part 2 Flora Zambesiaca 5(2) Pages 242 - 244. (Includes a picture).

Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 248. (Includes a picture).

Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 73.

Wursten, B., Timberlake, J. & Darbyshire, I. (2017). The Chimanimani Mountains: an updated checklist. Kirkia 19(1) Page 99.

Other sources of information about Pachystigma pygmaeum:

Our websites:

Flora of Malawi: Pachystigma pygmaeum
Flora of Mozambique: Pachystigma pygmaeum
Flora of Zimbabwe: Pachystigma pygmaeum

External websites:

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


Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-23

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2023). Flora of Zambia: Species information: Pachystigma pygmaeum.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=156100, retrieved 24 September 2023

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