Sterculia africana africana
| Family: | Sterculiaceae |
| Full name: | Sterculia africana (Lour.) Fiori var. africana |
| Location: | C14 Kuiseb pass (2315BD) |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Afrikaanse sterkastaiing, Bosluisboom |
| English common name(s): | African star-chestnut, Tick tree |
| Synonym(s): | - |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Medium sized tree with a stout trunk. Bark smooth silvery-grey, often mottled with purple-brown, peeling. Leaves crowded near the ends of branches, broadly ovate-cordate in outline, variously 3-5- lobed. Flowers in compact terminal panicles, greenish-yellow with reddish guide lines, appearing before the leaves; sexes separate on the same tree. Fruit consisting of 1-5 beaked carpels, each splitting down one side, golden velvety on the outside; mouth fringed with highly irritant hairs, which protect the blue-black, tick-like seeds. (from Flora of Zimbabwe website) A fairly thick-stemmed tree. BARK smooth, white to cream, often red-brown or purple; peeling in papery strips or woody discs to reveal a green underbark. LEAVES simple, with 3–5 lobes, 50–140 mm long; dark olive-green, rough; conspicuously seven-veined. FLOWERS green-yellow with red stripes, cup-shaped, up to 25 mm in diameter. FRUIT a dry, woody capsule, up to 150 mm long; borne in clusters of 3–5; densely hairy, beaked, mouth fringed with irritating bristles; splitting along one seam to form a boat-shaped receptacle. SEEDS blue-grey with a small, white aril at base; attached at edge of opening between the bristles like engorged ticks. White-stemmed individuals may be confused with S. quinqueloba, which has larger and more deeply lobed leaves. (from Tree Atlas of Namibia) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Photographer: | AA Dreyer |
| Date of photograph: | 13 Jun 2008 |
| Camera make: | Canon |
| Camera model: | PowerShot A700 |
| Lens aperture: | f/4.8 |
| Shutter speed: | 1/250 s |
| ISO speed: | - |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
