Symphonia globulifera L.f.

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Katanga Province, DRC
Nov 2007
Photo: Jos Stevens

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Status:	Native
Description:	Tree 15–30 m. (rarely to 36 m.) high, with straight bole and a crown of short horizontal branches; bark smooth, dark or reddish-brown. Branches longitudinally grooved and slightly flattened when young, eventually cylindric. Leaves coriaceous, petiolate; lamina 5–12 × 1·3–4 cm., oblong or elliptic to oblanceolate, acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, dark glossy green above, paler below, with numerous closely parallel lateral veins prominent below forming a wide angle with the midrib and branching and anastomosing towards the margin, and with dark glandular streaks or lines sometimes visible on the lower surface; petiole 5–15 (20) mm. long, channelled above. Inflorescences corymbose or subumbellate many-flowered cymes, terminating short lateral branches. Flower-buds 6–12 mm. in diam., globose. Flowers pedicellate; pedicels 12–25 mm. long, quadrangular above. Sepals unequal or subequal, ovate to orbicular, rounded at the apex, with margin entire or ciliolate. Petals 7–15 mm. long, 5–6 times as long as the sepals, carnose, ± orbicular, scarlet or bright- or yellowish-red, deciduous. Androecium of 2 whorls, the outer sterile, forming a ± pentagonal cupule 1·5–4 mm. high, with entire or undulate margins; the inner comprising 5 stamen-fascicles each with 3–4 completely united stamens, the fascicles united to form a membranous tube round the ovary, free above, spreading at anthesis; anthers 2–5 mm. long, linear, parallel, with connectives prolonged to form a short acute or bifid appendage. Ovary ovoid; loculi (1) 2–4-ovulate; styles 1–2 times as long as the ovary, thick, fused together for c. 2/3 of their length, then spreading or recurved; stigmas minute. Berry ovoid or globose, 15–35 mm. in diam., verrucose, red turning brown, 1–2 (rarely 3)-seeded. Seeds c. 15–20 mm. long, ± flattened. (from JSTOR)
Type location:	Surinam
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Worldwide distribution:	Widespread in tropical E. and W. Africa
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca):	W
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	Nw
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Endemic status:
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Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Monday 17 September 2018
Literature:	Robson, N.K.B. (1961). Guttiferae Flora Zambesiaca 1(2) Pages 394 - 396. (Includes a picture).

Other sources of information about Symphonia globulifera:

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Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Symphonia globulifera

External websites:

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