| Dioscorea schimperiana Hochst. ex Kunth |
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| Family : DIOSCOREACEAE |
Protologue : Enum. Pl. (Kunth) 5: 339 (1850)  |
| Information on the genus : Dioscorea |
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Status
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| Status for TA : | accepted (present) |
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| Synonym(s) Heterotypic |
| =Dioscorea fulvida Stapf (1906) |
| =Dioscorea hockii De Wild. (1911) |
| =Dioscorea schimperiana var. adamaouense Jacq.-Fél. |
| =Dioscorea schimperiana var. vestita Pax |
| =Dioscorea stellatopilosa De Wild. (1912) |
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| Ecology and distribution |
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| Biology : |
Robust climber, right-twining, or scrambling, 3-8 m long; stem stout, densely appressed-pubescent, rarely with small prickles below; indumentum of stellate to dendroid hairs; bulbils often present in leaf axils, subglobose, to 1 cm Ø, ± ovoid, tuberculate, soon falling; tubers solitary, replaced annually, cylindric, descending vertically into soil, to 75 cm long, 4,5 cm Ø, branched for at least 15 cm; petiole to 10-14 cm long; blade heart-shaped, to 14 cm long and broad, with dense greyish stellate hairs beneath, acumen acute, thickened; inflorescence descending, spicate; male: to 5-8 per leaf-axil, or at leafless nodes at ends of the branches, to 10-20 cm long; flowers sessile, 6 stamens fertile; perianth cup-shaped, c. 2 mm across; female: to 4 per leaf-axil, to 16-20 cm long; capsule stellate-pubescent, 2,5-3,3 cm Ø; seeds winged all round. |
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| Ecology : |
Wooded grassland with Combretum molle, C. collinum, Entada abyssinica, Erythrina abyssinica, Pennisetum purpureum, Hyparrhenia rufa (grasses dominant); edges and clearings in rain-forest; riverine forest; woodland; tall-grass grassland; often on termite hills; ravines; road-sides; among rocks; riverbanks; Brachystegia woodland; generally in more open or disturbed areas; Acacia seyal, Entada abyssinica, Stereospermum kunthianum woodland; dark-brown loamy soil or lava; clayey-sandy soils; 200-2100 m alt. |
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Very variable, in particular in indumentum of leaves and colour of hairs on inflorescences, and in shape of fruits. Near D. hirtiflora. |
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Bibliography for Tropical Africa :
- 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 Flore d'Afrique Centrale |
| see under The International Plant Name Index |
| see under Flora of Mozambique |
| see under African Plants - a Photo Guide |
| see under Flora of Zimbabwe |
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| Map |
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| Record n°11282 |
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