Pleurostylia africana Loes.

Selected images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View all images (6)

Photo: Rob Burrett
Samson Farm, Bromley

Photo: Mark Hyde
Christon Bank, near Botanical Reserve carpark

Detailed records: Display species records QDS maps by: Google Maps Point records by Google Maps

Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms:	Pleurostylia heynei Wight & Arn, var. acutifolia Suess.
Common names:	Northern coffee-pear (English)
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Shrub or small unarmed tree. Bark grey becoming dark and rough in older trees; young branchlets pale and 4-angled. Leaves opposite, oblong-elliptic, up to 10 × 4 cm, bright to dark glossy green above, paler and duller below, leathery, net-veining conspicuous; margin entire. Young leaves purple-tinged, typically drooping on the young branchlets (See photos). Flowers in small compact axillary heads, greenish-yellow, unpleasantly scented. Fruit obovoid-ellipsoid, up to 8 × 3 mm, slightly asymmetric with the remains of the style on one side towards the base, green.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	africana: African
Habitat:	Along the margins of forest, in woodland and on rocky hillsides, often on termite mounds.
Altitude range:
Flowering time:	Oct - Feb
Worldwide distribution:	Angola, DRC (Katanga), Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Malawi distribution:	N,C,S
Growth form(s):	Tree.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:	Charaxes castor flavifasciatus (Larval foodplant)
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Literature:	Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 127. (Includes a picture). Burrows, J.E., Burrows, S.M., Lötter, M.C. & Schmidt, E. (2018). Trees and Shrubs Mozambique Publishing Print Matters (Pty), Cape Town. Page 497. (Includes a picture). Drummond, R.B. (1975). A list of trees, shrubs and woody climbers indigenous or naturalised in Rhodesia. Kirkia 10(1) Page 255. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 34. Robson, N.K.B. (1966). Celastraceae Flora Zambesiaca 2(2) Pages 383 - 384. (Includes a picture). Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A Checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mount Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34 National Botanic Garden of Belgium Page 67. also in error as Pleurostylia capensis

Other sources of information about Pleurostylia africana:

Our websites:

Flora of Mozambique: Pleurostylia africana
Flora of Zambia: Pleurostylia africana
Flora of Zimbabwe: Pleurostylia africana

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Pleurostylia africana
African Plant Database: Pleurostylia africana
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Pleurostylia africana
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Pleurostylia africana
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Pleurostylia africana
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Pleurostylia africana
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Pleurostylia africana
JSTOR Plant Science: Pleurostylia africana
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Pleurostylia africana
Plants of the World Online: Pleurostylia africana
Tropicos: Pleurostylia africana
Wikipedia: Pleurostylia africana