Agelanthus

Agelanthus
A. natalitius subsp. zeyheri in South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Santalales
Family:	Loranthaceae
Genus:	Agelanthus Tiegh.

Agelanthus is a genus of Afrotropical plants in family Loranthaceae. They grow in trees, including Acacia and Combretum species,^[1] as hemiparasitic shrubs of varying sizes.^[2] The host plant is penetrated by a single haustorium,^[2] and the stems typically have swollen, flower-producing nodes. The flowers are often closely clustered (fascicled) with the five petals (pentamerous) fused into a tube (gamopetalous).^{[note 1]} The flower may have a swollen base and the tubes open along unilateral, V-shaped splits. The filaments remain spirally rolled inward when the flowers open, while the styles are inconspicuous, slender filaments that are somewhat thickened in the middle. Berries range from pink to orange and red in colour, and are around 1 cm in diameter.^[2]

The genus was first described by Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem in 1895.^[3]

Species

It is the largest genus of the Afrotropical Loranthaceae^[2] containing some 61 species,^[4] including:

Open flower with spirally rolled filaments

Habit of A. natalitius

• Agelanthus atrocoronatus Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus bipartitus Balle ex Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus brunneus (Engl.) Tiegh.
• Agelanthus combreticola (Lebrun & L.Touss.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus copaiferae (Sprague) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus igneus (Engl. & K.Krause) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus kayseri (Meisn.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus keilii (Meisn.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus longipes (Baker & Sprague) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus microphyllus Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus myrsinifolius (Engl. & K.Krause) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus natalitius (Meisn.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus nyasicus (Baker & Sprague) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus pennatulus (Sprague) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus pungu (De Wild.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus rondensis (Engl.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus tanganyikae (Engl.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus terminaliae (Engl. & Gilg) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus toroensis (Sprague) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus transvaalensis (Sprague) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus uhehensis (Engl.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus unyorensis (Sprague) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus validus Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus villosiflorus (Engl.) Polhill & Wiens
• Agelanthus zizyphifolius (Engl.) Polhill & Wiens

Notes

1. Flowers of the closely related genus Phragmanthera are similar in many respects.

References

1. Onderstall, Jo (1984). Transvaalse Laeveld en Platorand. Cape Town: Botaniese Vereniging van Suid-Afrika. p. 90. ISBN 0-620-07750-6.
2. Smith, Emily. "Agelanthus". Gateway to African Plants. Don Kirkup et al. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
3. M. Ph. Van Tieghem (January 1895). "Sur Le Groupement Des Espèces En Genres Dans Les Loranthées A Calice Gamosépale Et Anthères Basifixes Ou Dendrophihdées". Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France (in French). 42 (3): 246. doi:10.1080/00378941.1895.10830595. ISSN 0037-8941. Wikidata Q54801453.
4. "Agelanthus". The Plant List. Version 1. 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2012.

External links

• Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Agelanthus". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.

Media related to Agelanthus at Wikimedia Commons