Description: Shrub or tree, to ca 10 m tall; stipules triangular, ca 3 mm long, caduceus. Leaves opposite, elliptic, 6–18 cm long; apex acuminate; base cuneate; secondary veins 4–5 on each side; petioles 0.3–1 cm long. Flower solitary, terminal on short branches; pedicels to ca 1 cm long; bracts 5–9, scale like. Calyx tube 1–2 cm long, 5-toothed, 1–4 mm long, persistent. Corolla purplish-red with greenish patches, inside white with reddish purple spots, narrowly funnelform, to 24 cm long; lobes 5, ovate-oblong, 1–4 cm long. Stamens 5, inserted in corolla tube near mouth, included or slightly exerted. Ovary inferior, 2-celled; style 12–20 cm long; stigma bi-lobed, clavate, to ca 3 cm long, slightly exerted. Fruits baccate, broadly elliptic, 3.5–7 cm long, 10-ridged; seeds reddish brown, numerous, lenticular, 6–8 mm diam. |
Distribution: Native to Africa in Gambia, Sudan, Kenya, Tansania and Angola, commonly cultivated as ornamental tree, fruits and seeds used for body tattoo or dying, fruits are edible.
Notes: Last updated on 18 January 2017. |
