Sclerosperma
Encyclopedia
Sclerosperma is a monoecious genus
of flowering plant
in the palm
family found in Africa
where three species are known. Having no obvious relatives, it does resemble the Madagascar
native Marojejya
though a detailed study of Madagascar's palms is required to determine if any true relationship exists. The lack of relatives, and its interesting qualities, indicate, at one time, the existence of a diverse African palm flora. The name is from two Greek
words meaning "hard" and "seed".
The inflorescence spike emerges within the leaf crown, often concealed, and the peduncle is short and tomentose. The prophyll is two keeled, short and fibrous, the peduncular bract is longer, tubular, and forms a hairy net around the flower
s with two bracts borne below each. The rachis is short and stout with triads at the base and rows of pistillate units towards the end.
The staminate flowers have three elongated, tapering sepal
s and three thick, valvate petals. There may be up to 60 stamens with short filaments with basifixed, elongated anthers. The exine is tectate and reticulate; pistillodes are not present. The pistillate flowers are longer and ovoid with three sepals forming a cup, and three imbricate petals with thick, valvate tips. There are six tiny staminodes with ovoid, uniovulate gynoecium matted in thin brown scales and bearing a three-angled stigma; the ovule is ± pendulous.
The fruit
is spherical, indented, becoming purple or black when ripe. The mesocarp is thin, the endocarp is hard and bony enclosing a single, round seed
.
, Cameroon
, and Nigeria
these palms usually grow in wet, low land, tropical forest, often in swamps. They may creep up hill slopes or into sandy, friable loam, which becomes periodically flooded. In habitat the leaves are used in thatch and the seeds eaten.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
family found in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
where three species are known. Having no obvious relatives, it does resemble the Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
native Marojejya
Marojejya
Marojejya is a genus of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It contains the following species:* Marojejya darianii* Marojejya insignis...
though a detailed study of Madagascar's palms is required to determine if any true relationship exists. The lack of relatives, and its interesting qualities, indicate, at one time, the existence of a diverse African palm flora. The name is from two Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
words meaning "hard" and "seed".
Description
The trunks are barely emergent or not at all, clustering, when above ground they are ringed with close leaf scars. The leaves are very big, reduplicate, either divided or bifid, with a short sheath and a long slender petiole. Those with divided leaves have many narrow folds, each featuring a prominent midrib. The margins have tiny teeth, the undersides glaucous, the tops dark green, with small scales along the veins.The inflorescence spike emerges within the leaf crown, often concealed, and the peduncle is short and tomentose. The prophyll is two keeled, short and fibrous, the peduncular bract is longer, tubular, and forms a hairy net around the flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s with two bracts borne below each. The rachis is short and stout with triads at the base and rows of pistillate units towards the end.
The staminate flowers have three elongated, tapering sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and three thick, valvate petals. There may be up to 60 stamens with short filaments with basifixed, elongated anthers. The exine is tectate and reticulate; pistillodes are not present. The pistillate flowers are longer and ovoid with three sepals forming a cup, and three imbricate petals with thick, valvate tips. There are six tiny staminodes with ovoid, uniovulate gynoecium matted in thin brown scales and bearing a three-angled stigma; the ovule is ± pendulous.
The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is spherical, indented, becoming purple or black when ripe. The mesocarp is thin, the endocarp is hard and bony enclosing a single, round seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
.
Distribution and habitat
From Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, and Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
these palms usually grow in wet, low land, tropical forest, often in swamps. They may creep up hill slopes or into sandy, friable loam, which becomes periodically flooded. In habitat the leaves are used in thatch and the seeds eaten.