Olacaceae
Strombosiopsis tetrandra
- Leaves, upper surface.
- Slash.
- Midrib and venation, leaf lower surface.
- Leaf margin and venation, lower surface.
- Inflorescence with immature fruit.
- Flowers.
- Petals with stamens attached to inner surface.
- Leafy branch with inflorescences.
General Information
The family Olacaceae contains four medium sized trees in the area that are often misidentified. Three of these are in another genus and are called Strombosia grandifolia, Strombosia nigropunctata and Strombosia pustulata. The reason that they are so easy to confuse is that they have similar sized leaves, small white flowers and green similar fruit. Fortunately this species can be recognised by the distinctive appearance of the dried leaves, which are reddish brown, curl in at the edges and often have some insect damage. The slash is red and there is sometimes some red exudate close to the wood. The top half of the petioles is more swollen than the lower half.
Ecology
Mixed species terra firma and seasonally flooded forest.
Distribution
Distribution: Nigeria to Uganda.