Ancistrocladus korupensis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ancistrocladus korupensis | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Ancistrocladaceae |
| Genus: | Ancistrocladus |
| Species: | A. korupensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ancistrocladus korupensis | |
Ancistrocladus korupensis is a species of liana endemic to southwestern Cameroon and the neighbouring regions of Nigeria. The type locality is Korup National Park. The plant was identified as new to science in 1993 after pharmacologically intriguing alkaloids were found in its leaves.[3]
Like other members of its genus Ancistrocladus, this plant starts life as a free-standing bushy plant, with rosettes of eight to ten long leaves at the tip of each branch. When the sapling is three or four metres tall, one shoot develops into an aerial, hooked stem with alternate long leaves, which quests upward in search of a host. When this stem is established in a tree, the rosettes at the base die off. The flowers have yellowish-green sepals, pinkish or yellowish petals, ten stamens in two whorls and three styles. The fruits have five wings. They do not disperse very far, and the function of the wings seems to be to position the fruits correctly for germination rather than to disperse them.[3]
