Scolopia mundii
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Scolopia mundii | |
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| Detail of the leaves and berries of Scolopia mundii. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Salicaceae |
| Genus: | Scolopia |
| Species: | S. mundii |
| Binomial name | |
| Scolopia mundii (Ecklon & Zeyher) Warb. | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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List
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Scolopia mundii, the red pear or mountain saffron, is a tree in the family Salicaceae found in Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It has dark green foliage and bright yellow or orange berries. A very adaptable species, it can be found in forests, forest edges and mountain slopes from 30-2200m in elevation. While it is not considered threatened over its entire range,[1] it is rare and considered Critically Endangered (CR) in Zimbabwe.[3]
There has been confusion over the correct authorship citation for Scolopia mundii. The species was originally described as Eriudaphus mundii in Enumeratio plantae africae australis extra-tropicae written by Christian Friedrich Ecklon and Karl Ludwig Philipp Zeyher in 1836.[4] Two other species in the now-invalid genus Eriudaphus were described in the book, both with Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck attributed as the species author. However, Eriudaphus mundii did not specify any species author in its description. This confusion led to some botanists regarding Christian Nees von Esenbeck as the correct author, including in the taxonomic revision which transferred the species to the genus Scolopia.[5] It was later suggested in 1974 by the botanist Donald Killick that since Ecklon and Zeyher had otherwise very consistently attributed authorship to each species in their book, the lack of an authorship for Eriudaphus mundii most likely meant they inserted the description in the book themselves. Thus, the correct authorship citation should be (Ecklon & Zeyher) Warb.[6]
