| Dioscorea sansibarensis Pax |
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| Family : DIOSCOREACEAE |
| Protologue : Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 15: 146 (1892) |
| Information on the genus : Dioscorea |
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Status
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| Status for MA : | accepted (naturalised) |
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| Status for TA : | accepted (present) |
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| Synonym(s) Heterotypic |
| =Dioscorea macabiha Jum. & H. Perrier (1909) |
| =Dioscorea macroura Harms (1897) |
| =Dioscorea welwitschii Rendle (1899) |
| =Dioscorea toxicaria Bojer (1837) |
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| Ecology and distribution |
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| Biology : |
Glabrous non-spiny climber to 25-30 m long, stems left-twining, often with axillary bulbils to 5,5 cm Ø often glossy and black, or green (immature) or brown; tuber solitary, perennial, becoming very large with age, depressed globose, flattened below, developing roundish lobes with age, to 50 cm Ø and 22-30 kg in weight; leaves usually opposite; petiole 8-26 cm long; blade heart-shaped, to 20-46x23-58 cm, apex abruptly acuminate 5-20 cm long; blades of young plants variously shaped and lobed; inflorescences pendulous, spicate; male: 1-2 per leaf-axil or forming a terminal leafless panicle; spikes to 50 cm long; capsule glaucous, elongated, 2,5-5 cm x1-2,5 cm Ø; seeds winged at both ends. |
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| Ecology : |
Fallows; termite mounds; secondary forests; forests sometimes flooded, with Lannea, Pseudospondias; dry forests and thickets; rain-forest; riverine forest; Acacia woodland; coastal evergreen bushland; often close to water; 0-900 m alt. |
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The leaves with glands filled with a fluid holding nitrifying bacteria (Burkill, l.c.). The whole plant is very toxic (Choo in Gardenwise 32: 17, 2009). |
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S. Tomé; Madagascar, Mauritius (fide Fl. Mascareignes 182, Dioscor.: 2-3, 1978). – In Zimbabwe only in the Zambezi valley. Newly naturalised in Taiwan (Collection Res. 25: 25-29, 2012). |
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| Biol./Eco : |
Vine, Geophyte; distribution: Comoros, Africa, |
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Bibliography for Tropical Africa :
- Kew Bull. 67: 66 (2012)
- Darbyshire, I. Kordofami, M. & al. (2015). The plants of Sudan and south Sudan, An annoted checklist. Kew Publishing
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| More info on : |
| see under Jstor_African Plant Initiative |
| see under Fgui |
| see under The International Plant Name Index |
| see under Catalogue de Madagascar |
| see under Flora of Mozambique |
| see under Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden |
| see under Flora of Zimbabwe |
| see under African Plants - a Photo Guide |
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| Map |
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| Record n°11277 |
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