Vasilis Teodoridis:
Myrsinaceae | Myrsine
4. Myrsine africana Linnaeus; Sp. Pl. 1: 196. 1753.
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Myrsine africana
Credit: Harvard University Herbaria
Myrsine africana var. acuminata C. Y. Wu & C. Chen; M. africana var. bifaria (Wallich) Franchet; M. africana var. glandulosa J. M. Zhang; M. africana var. retusa A. de Candolle; M. bifaria Wallich; M. microphylla Hayata; M. potama D. Don; M. vaccinifolia Hayata; Rhamnus myrtillus H. Léveillé.
Shrubs 50-100 cm tall. Branchlets terete; 0.5-2 mm in diam.; reddish glandular granulose and puberulent; with capitate trichomes; often glabrescent. Petiole marginate; 1-2.5 mm; strongly decurrent; leaf blade obovate; to orbicular; 1-5 x 0.7-1.6 cm; papery or leathery; glabrous; minutely punctate abaxially; base cuneate; margin serrate; apex obtuse; to rounded; lateral veins inconspicuous; marginal vein absent. Inflorescences axillary; subumbellate or fascicled; basal scales in 1 series. Flowers yellowish white; 2-2.5 mm; 4-merous. Pedicel 0.5-1.5 mm; glabrous or glandular puberulent. Calyx lobes spreading; nearly free; broadly ovate to elliptic; 0.3-0.5 mm; flat; glabrous; margin entire; ciliate; apex acute to obtuse. Corolla 0.8-1 mm; united to at least 1/2 length; glabrous outside; puberulent inside; lobes lanceolate; 0.8-1 mm; densely punctate; margin entire; glandular granuose; apex obtuse to acute. Stamens longer than petals; filaments united basally into a tube adnate to corolla tube; puberulent in staminate flowers. Pistil globose. Style short; stigma discoid; margin lobed. Fruit red or purple-black; globose; ca. 5 mm in diam.; smooth. Fl. Feb-Jun; fr. Nov-Jan.
Sparse mixed forests; open mountain slopes; sunny dry places; scrub; fields; roadsides; 1000-3600 m. Gansu; Guangxi; Guizhou; Hubei; Hunan; Shaanxi; Sichuan; Taiwan; Xizang; Yunnan [India; Azores; Africa; SW Asia].