Lasiodiscus Explained

Lasiodiscus, commonly known as red-hair bushes, is a small plant genus in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands.

Description

The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves. As with Colubrina, the flower ovaries are surrounded by a nectariferous disc that fills the receptacle.

Habitat

They regularly occur in the understorey of tropical forests, or alternatively in swamp forest. One species, L. rozeirae, is limited to mountain forest understorey.

Relationships

Lasiodiscus is morphologically similar to Colubrina, which occurs in the Neotropics, Asia and Afrotropics, but preliminary molecular analysis failed to group them as nearest relatives.^[1]

Species

There are 9 accepted species:

• Lasiodiscus chevalieri Hutch. –
• Lasiodiscus fasciculiflorus Engl. – Sierra Leone to Nigeria, w Cameroon and D.R.C.
• Lasiodiscus holtzii Engl. – East Africa
• Lasiodiscus mannii Hook. – central Africa
• Lasiodiscus marmoratus C.H. Wright – Cameroon
• Lasiodiscus mildbraedii Engl. – African tropics and locally along east coast to South Africa
• Lasiodiscus pervillei Baill. – Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion and Comores

L. p. pervillei – widespread in Madagascar

L. p. ferrugineus (Verdc.) Figueiredo – local and vulnerable in East Africa

• Lasiodiscus rozeirae A.W. Exell – São Tomé in Gulf of Guinea, vulnerable
• Lasiodiscus usambarensis Engl. – Usambara Mountains and locally to Zimbabwe

External links

• Flora of Zimbabwe
• Madagascar Catalogue
• Description of L. pervillei

Note: The Lasiodiscidae belongs to the Foraminifera and Reichel (1945) described the genus Lasiodiscus.

Notes and References

1. A phylogenetic analysis of Rhamnaceae using RBCL and TRNL-F plastid DNA sequences, J.E. Richardson et al., American Journal of Botany, 87(9), 2000.