Monadenium discoideum
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Habit
Degraded miombo woodland
Kalumbila District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Habit
Degraded miombo woodland
Kalumbila District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Habit
Degraded miombo woodland
Kalumbila District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Cyathia
Degraded miombo woodland
Kalumbila District
Nov 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)
| Synonyms: |
Euphorbia discoidea (P.R.O.Bally) Bruyns |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | Locally common |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Geophyte; rootstock blackish, tuberous, up to c. 7 × 5 cm, producing a few simple erect stems up to 25 cm high; the whole plant densely covered with short bristly hairs. Leaves subsessile, up to 6.5 × 2.5 cm, oblanceolate, margins entire; stipules glandular, c. 0.5 mm in diameter. Cymes axillary, simple, peduncles c. 6 mm long; bracts joined in a bract-cup, up to 11 × 18 mm, not or only slightly notched, nodding and completely enveloping the involucre, yellowish-green or often flushed reddish. Cyathia c. 4 × 3.5 mm, with barrel-shaped involucres; glandular rim c. 1.5 mm high, yellowish; lobes c. 1 × 1 mm, rounded, denticulate. Female flower: perianth distinctly 3-lobed, 3 mm in diameter; styles 0.75 mm long, with bifid apices. Male flowers: bracteoles few, c. 2 mm long; stamens c. 3.5 mm long. Capsule exserted on a reflexed pedicel c. 5 mm long, c. 4 × 3.5 mm, obtusely lobed, bristly. Seeds 2.25 × 2 mm, subglobose, black, smooth; caruncle 1 mm in diameter, cap-like, shortly stipitate, pale yellow. |
| Type location: |
Zambia |
| Notes: | Red data status: VU D2 |
| Derivation of specific name: | discoideum: discoid |
| Habitat: | Brachystegia woodland |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 1200 - 1250 m |
| Flowering time: | Nov - Dec |
| Worldwide distribution: | DRC and Zambia |
| FZ divisions: | W |
| Zambian distribution (Provinces): | Nw,Cb |
| Growth form(s): | Perennial. |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Images last updated: | Thursday 26 March 2026 |
| Literature: |
Carter, S. & Leach, L.C. (2001). Euphorbiaceae: subfamily Euphorbioideae: tribe Euphorbieae Flora Zambesiaca 9(5) Pages 443 - 444. |
Other sources of information about Monadenium discoideum:
External websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Monadenium discoideumAfrican Plant Database: Monadenium discoideum
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Monadenium discoideum
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Monadenium discoideum
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Monadenium discoideum
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Monadenium discoideum
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Monadenium discoideum
JSTOR Plant Science: Monadenium discoideum
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Monadenium discoideum
Plants of the World Online: Monadenium discoideum
Tropicos: Monadenium discoideum
Wikipedia: Monadenium discoideum