Flora of Tropical East Africa - Proteaceae (1993)

R. K. Brummitt, Serena K. Marner

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000162462
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Ciencias biológicas
• Subtopic: Horticultura

Part of a series on the flora of tropical East Africa, this work considers Proteaceae. The flora is prepared at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in close collaboration with East African Herbarium and in liaison with the University of Dar es Salaam, the University of Nairobi and the Makerere University. Significant contributions are also made by specialists from elsewhere. The flora should be a useful reference for anyone concerned with the identification and utilization of plants in eastern Africa. Each family is published as a separate part. New parts are published annually. All back volumes are also available.

FLORA OF TROPICAL EAST AFRICA
______
PROTEACEAE

R.K. BRUMMITT & SERENA K. MARNER*

Trees, shrubs or suffrutices. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite or verticillate, usually coriaceous, estipulate, entire to toothed or lobed or pinnate. Inflorescence a raceme, spike or head. Flowers 6 or rarely (not in East Africa) dioecious, zygomorphic. Perianth 4-merous, the segments ± fused into a tube in bud but variously separating in flower, in native genera differentiated into a swollen base, narrow claw and expanded terminal limb, with the tube splitting before the limb to release a loop of the style while the stigma remains enclosed in the limb. Staments 4, fused to the perianth and (in Flora area) lying inside the limb, attached opposite the perianth-segments, the filaments largely adnate to the perianth-segments and the anthers free. Four small hypogynous scales often present on the receptacle between perianth and ovary. Ovary superior, sessile or shortly stalked, often clothed with long hairs, 1-locular with ovules variously numerous in 2 series, or 2, or solitary and orthotropous or amphitropous to anatropous; style (in Flora area) long, often exceeding the perianth, variously modified distally into a filiform to expanded pollen-presenter. Fruit a follicle, capsule, drupe or nut.

A family of about 76 genera centred in the southern hemisphere and rather sparingly extending into the tropics, many genera being confined to either Australia or South Africa.

Two species of Macadamia are cultivated in Africa for their edible nuts (”macadamia nuts” or “Queensland nuts”). They are Australian shrubs to trees up to 10 m. high, with stiffly coriaceous leaves in whorls of 3 or 4 and whitish or pinkish flowers in spikes up to 30 cm. long. M. integrifolia Maiden & Betcke (”M. ternifolia” of some authors) has leaves in whorls of 3, the juvenile ones serrate but adult leaves usually entire or occasionally with up to 12 teeth on each side, ± cuneate at the base and with a petiole 4-15 mm. long; the fruits are scarcely pubescent and usually do not dehisce on the tree. M. tetraphylla L.A.S. Johnson has leaves usually in whorls of 4, strongly serrate with 20-44 teeth on each side, the base rounded and petiole not exceeding 2 mm.; the fruits are densely pubescent and usually dehisce on the tree. Both species are known to be cultivated in the Flora area.

Hakea salicfolia (Vent.) B.L. Burtt, is a small tree, native of Australia, planted as a wind-break or boundary hedge or as an ornamental, particularly on tea estates in Tanzania. It has Eucalyptus-like linear-elliptic leaves, 7-12 × 0.6-1.3 cm., clusters of small cream or yellow flowers in the leaf-axils and warty woody fruits with a short blunt beak. H. sericea Schrad. (H. gibbosa auctt.), also native of Australia, is a small tree with needle leaves ± 3 × 0.1 cm., also planted on tea estates in Tanzania.

Flowers in heads surrounded by an involucre of bracts	3. Protea
Flowers in spikes or axillary fascicles without an involucre of bracts:
Flowers in spikes; leaves entire (native)	2. Faurea
Flowers in spikes or axillary fascicles; leaves deeply divided or toothed, or if entire then either in whorls or flowers in axillary fascicles (introduced):
Leaves in whorls of 3 or 4	Macadamia
Leaves alternate:
Leaves deeply dissected; flowers in dense spikes	1. Grevillea
Leaves entire; flowers in axillary fascicles	Hakea

*Faurea by S.K. Marner, remainder by R.K. Brummitt

1. GREVILLEA

Knight, Cult. Proteeae: 120 (1809), as “Grevillia”; Con. R. Br. in Trans. Linn. Soc., Bot. 10: 167 (1810), nom. conserv.

Shrubs or (in Flora area) trees. Leaves simple or (more commonly in Flora area) pinnately to bipinnately divided. Flowers in short or long simple or branched racemes; bracts caducous. Perianth tubular, expanded distally into a limb enclosing the stamens, the tube splitting on one side to release the style. Fruit a dehiscent follicle; seeds 2.

A genus of about 200 species native of Australia and the SW. Pacific area.

G. robusta R. Br., Prot. Nov.: 24(1830); T.T.C.L.: 460 (1949); Jex-Blake, Gard. E. Aft., ed. 4: 114,243 (1957); F.F.N.R.: 37 (1962). Type from Australia

Tree up to 30 m. high. Leaves up to 35 cm. long, pinnate with up to 22 alternate or subopposite pinnae, the pinnae with 1-several linear or linear-oblong acute lobes to deeply pinnatifid or pinnate with up to 16 lobes or pinnules, glabrous above, closely appressed pubescent beneath. Inflorescence with main axis up to 24 cm. long, usually with several simple lateral branches from near the base, appressed pubescent towards the base but glabrous distally; pedicels 9-15 mm. long, glabrous. Perianth 7-10 mm., glabrous, bright yellow to orange or reddish. Fruits ± 15 × 10 mm., blackish, glabrous.

KENYA. Naivasha District: Naivasha-Nairobi road, 6 Sept. 1968, Bonnefille 400!; Nairobi, National [Coryndon] Museums grounds, July 1952, Verdcourt 680!; S. Kavirondo District: Keumbu, 19 Mar. 1975, Vuyk 543!

TANZANIA. Arusha District: Mt. Meru, 2 km. from Eastern sawmills, 15 Nov. 1951, McCoy-Hill 15!; Buha District: Gombe Stream Reserve, near Kasulu, Marumbe Mission, 7 Apr. 1964, Pirozynski 656!; Morogoro District: Uluguru Mts., Kibuko old mica camp, Mar. 1955, Semsei 1999!

DISTR. Widely planted as a street tree, as a shade tree on tea or coffee plantations, or as a garden ornamental. Native of Australia (Queensland and New South Wales), where it is confusingly known as Silky Oak, now cultivated widely in tropical countries

HAB. Sometimes more or less established in native vegetation near habitation or roadsides; recorded 1500-2000 m. but probably planted more widely

NOTE G. banksii R. Br., also native of Australia (Queensland and New South Wales), is cultivated as an ornamental. It is similar to G. robusta but a much smaller plant, usually a shrub, seldom exceeding 5m., with simply pinnate or pinnatifid leaves, densely brown-tomentose inflorescence, red or red-and-yellow flowers, shorter pedicels (up to 7 mm.) and brown tomentose shoots. G. hilliana F. Muell., from the same parts of Australia, is a more rarely cultivated tree with broader and much less divided (usually only 3-7 lobes) or even entire leaves, the lobes more than 1 cm. across, and dense spikes up to 22 × 2 cm. with very many, very small (perianth ± 4-5 mm.) white flowers. G. thelemanniana Hügel, once cultivated in Tanzania, has leaves divided into linear segments less than 0.5 mm. broad.

2. FAUREA*

Harv. in Hook., Journ. Bot. 6: 373, t. 15 (1847); Welw. in Trans. Linn. Soc., Bot. 27: 62 (1869)

Evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, usually clustered near the ends of the branchlets, simple, lanceolate or elliptic, occasionally falcate, obovate or ovate, petiolate or subpetiolate, entire, coriaceous or subcoriaceous, glabrous or pubescent especially on undersurface. Flowers sessile or pedicellate, arranged in dense mostly terminal and solitary spikes or racemes, occasionally axillary, each flower in the axil of a small bract; involucre absent. Perianth petaloid, puberulous or tomentose, valvate, tubular in bud, somewhat clavate above, splitting into 2 major lobes at anthesis releasing the style, one lobe free almost to the base consisting of a single segment, the other with 3 segments, united almost to the apex, curling back to reveal the anthers. Hypogynous scales 4, free, present at the base of the ovary, triangular, acute or obtuse, often deltoid, persistent. Ovary with 1 ovule, with a long persistent filiform style terminating in a simple stigma; stigma slightly geniculate at base; ovary and subsequently the fruit clothed with long straight hairs. Fruit a globose nut.

A genus of about 15 species in Africa and Madagascar.

*By Serena K. Marner, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford

1. Leaves usually more than 3.5 cm. broad, venation prominent, with coarse curly spreading indumentum always present on the undersurface and sometimes dense; usually 2-2.5 cm. long	1. F. rochetiana
Leaves usually less than 3.5 cm. broad, without curly hairs; less than 1.5 cm. long	2
2. Leaves distinctly petiolate	3
Leaves sessile or subsessile	4
3. Leaves usually 5-6 times longer than broad, sometimes subfalcate, glaucous green beneath; inflorescence terminal, greyish pubescent	2. F. saligna
Leaves up to 4 times as long as broad, concolorous, margins undulate, veins red; inflorescence terminal or axillary, shortly rusty pubescent	3. F. wentzeliana
4. Leaves usually more than 2.5 cm. broad, almost entirely glabrous except for a few long weak hairs towards base on lower surface	4. F. delevoyi
Leaves usually not more than 2.5 cm. broad, with both appressed and spreading hairs, especially on the undersurface	5
5. Leaves broadest in the lower half, suddenl...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Proteaceae
• Index to Proteaceae
• Geographical Divisions of the Flora