Phyllanthus welwitschianus Müll. Arg.

Selected images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View all images (4)

Habit
Open scrubland on Kalahari sand
Kalihonga Village, Longe area, Kaoma Distr.
Mar 2021
Photo: Nick Wightman

Flowers
Degraded miombo woodland on Kalahari sand
Walubita Village, Namaloba, Kaoma Distr.
Mar 2021
Photo: Nick Wightman

Fruit
Open scrubland on Kalahari sand
Kalihonga Village, Longe area, Kaoma Distr.
Mar 2021
Photo: Nick Wightman

Specimen citations: Display citations Detailed records: Display species records QDS maps by: Google Maps Point records by Google Maps

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

Synonyms:
Common names:
Frequency:	Locally common
Status:	Native
Description:	An erect perennial herb or subshrub up to 90 cm tall, dioecious or occasionally monoecious; stems several from a woody rootsock, monomorphic, simple or branched , glabrous or minutely puberulous, reddish-brown; scale leaves 0; foliage leaves distichous or ± so, often folded up together, petiole 1-2 mm long, leaf blades 0.5-3.5 x 0.3-2.8 cm, suborbicular to elliptic-oblong, rounded or emarginated, sometimes mucronate, rounded, truncate or shallowly cordate at base, glabrous on both surfaces, deep blue-green above, paler and glaucous below, lateral nerves in 6-18 pairs, scarcely or slightly prominent above but more so beneath; male flowers in 2 or more flowered axillary cymules, female flowers solitary or rarely in pairs per axil, rarely accompanied by 1-2 male flowers; in male and female flowers sepals 6, white to yellowish-green or reddish-tinged; fruit 4 x 7-8 mm, 3-lobed, shallowly rugulose-venose to ± smooth, pale green and often reddish-tinged; seeds 3.2-3.4 x 2.6-2.8 x 2.4-2.5 mm, somewhat asymmetrically rounded-segmentiform, pale yellowish-brown with c. 35 longitudinal rows of minute glistening darker reddish-brown tubercles on the dorsal facet and c. 30 irregular and rather broken arcs of such tubercles on each ventral facet.
Type location:	Angola
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	welwitschianus: named after Austrian botanist, Friedrich Martin Welwitsch (1806-1872).
Habitat:	In sandy soils and Kalahari Sands, usually in miombo and mixed deciduous woodlands, wooded grassland and in sandy watershed dambo
Altitude range:	800 - 1550 m
Flowering time:	Jan - Mar
Worldwide distribution:	Angola, DRC (Katanga), Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca):	B,N,W,C,E,S
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	Nw,Lp,E,C,S,W
Growth form(s):	Shrub under 2 m.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Monday 17 May 2021
Literature:	Radcliffe-Smith, A. (1996). Euphorbiaceae Flora Zambesiaca 9(4) Pages 83 - 84.

Other sources of information about Phyllanthus welwitschianus:

Our websites:

Flora of Malawi: Phyllanthus welwitschianus
Flora of Mozambique: Phyllanthus welwitschianus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Phyllanthus welwitschianus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Phyllanthus welwitschianus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Phyllanthus welwitschianus
ePIC (electronic Plant Information Center): Phyllanthus welwitschianus
Flora Zambesiaca web site: Phyllanthus welwitschianus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Phyllanthus welwitschianus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
GRIN (Germplasm Resources Information Network): Phyllanthus welwitschianus
iNaturalist: Phyllanthus welwitschianus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Phyllanthus welwitschianus
JSTOR Plant Science: Phyllanthus welwitschianus
Kew Herbarium catalogue: Phyllanthus welwitschianus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Phyllanthus welwitschianus
Plants of the World Online: Phyllanthus welwitschianus
Tropicos: Phyllanthus welwitschianus
Wikipedia: Phyllanthus welwitschianus