Byrsanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae (the willow family). It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Byrsanthus brownii.
Description
Byrsanthus brownii is a shrub or small tree with tortuous, rugose (wrinkled) branches. Its leaves are leathery, glabrous (smooth) on both surfaces, oval-oblong in shape, with feather-like venation and undulate (wavy) margins, borne on very short stalks. The flowers are small, ash-coloured, and puberulous (covered with fine hairs), arranged in spikes at the ends of branches and in the leaf axils. The flower stalks are thick, terete (cylindrical), and transversely wrinkled. The floral tube is obconical (inversely cone-shaped) and adherent to the base of the ovary.
Distribution and Habitat
The native range of Byrsanthus brownii is Western and West-Central Tropical Africa. It grows primarily in wet tropical biomes.
Taxonomy
The genus Byrsanthus was described by the French botanist Jean Baptiste Antoine Guillemin. It is placed within the subfamily Salicoideae of the family Salicaceae. The specific epithet brownii honors the Scottish botanist Robert Brown (1773–1858).
References
- Plants of the World Online, Kew Science. Byrsanthus Guill. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- World Flora Online. Byrsanthus Guill.
