| Synonyms: |
Maerua monticola Gilg & Gilg-Ben. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Evergreen climber or scrambling shrub. Branches blackish-puberulous. Leaves simple or trifoliolate on sterile branches; leaflets (narrowly) ovate, up to 10.5 × 4.5 cm, shiny green and hairless above except for the puberulous midrib, finely glandular hairy or hairless below with 5-6 pairs of prominent lateral veins; petiole 1-4 cm long in trifoliolate leaves, very short in simple leaves. Flowers in short axillary and terminal racemes, sometimes solitary in the upper axils; petals present, whitish, 3-5 mm long, puberulous on the margins and inside; stamens 50-60, up to 1.5-2 cm long. Fruit oblong-cylindric or ovoid, up to 1.5-3 cm long with 4 shallow ridges along the length and with minute bumps. |
| Type location: |
Zambia, Lake Bangweulu |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | In semi-evergreen scrub, Baikiaea plurijuga woodland and patches of forest, often on termite mounds. |
| Altitude range: (metres) | |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | DRC, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe. |
| Botanical divisions: | |
| Growth form(s): | |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Drummond, R.B. (1975). A list of trees, shrubs and woody climbers indigenous or naturalised in Rhodesia. Kirkia 10(1) Page 238. 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 32. Meerts, P. & Hasson, M. (2016). Arbres et arbustes du Haut-Katanga Jardin Botanique Meise, Belgique Page 167. (Includes a picture). Ntore, S. & al. (2024). Checklist of the vascular plants of Burundi Page 79. Wild, H. (1960). Capparaceae Flora Zambesiaca 1(1) Pages 221 - 223. (Includes a picture). |