Vitaceae
Cissus

Cissus populnea Guill. & Perr.

First published in Fl. Seneg. Tent.: 134 (1831)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is W. Tropical Africa to W. Ethiopia and E. Tanzania. It is a climbing shrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Vitaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1993

Morphology General Habit
Liane to 4.5 m., with old stems mostly hollow, up to 7.5 cm. diameter and yielding a copious clear watery sap when cut.
Morphology Branches
Young branches ± fleshy, ferruginous pubescent or glabrescent, soon glabrous.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves simple, ± round, broadly ovate or ovate–oblong, 2.5–17(–l9) cm. long, 2–17(–19) cm. wide, acute, shortly acuminate or obtuse to quite rounded at the apex, distantly minutely toothed, appearing almost entire, ± glabrous to shortly pubescent on venation on both sides, even ± subvelvety beneath, eventually glabrous; petiole 0.7–13(–16.5) cm. long; stipules oblong-triangular, 2.5–5 mm. long and wide, soon deciduous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in lax cymes 6–16 cm. long and wide of umbel-like elements, ferruginous pubescent; peduncle 1–7 cm. long; pedicels 3–5 mm. long, attaining 1 cm. in fruit, imperceptibly to distinctly puberulous; bracts and bracteoles 1–1.5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 1–1.5 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide, undulate, pubescent or minutely puberulent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals cream or yellowish, oblong-ovate, 2.5–3 mm. long, puberulous or mostly glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits blackish purple or yellow to red (fide Vollesen), ellipsoid or oblong, 2–2.5 cm. long, 1.2–1.5 cm. wide, glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed compressed, elliptic in outline, 1.5–1.9 cm. long, 1–1.5 cm. wide, 5–9 mm. thick; basal projection conical, thick; median keel broad, rounded and sinuous; usually with lateral raised radial lines separated by deep concave area; testa smooth.
Habitat
Grassland with trees especially after burning, bushland and rocky places; in T6 in lowland forest of Erythrophleum, Treculia, Isoberlinia scheffleri, Dialium, Xylopia, Parkia, Anthocleista and Tetrapleura; (250 (T6)–) 1080–1140 m.
Distribution
Senegal to S. Nigeria, Cameroon, Zaire, Central African Republic, Sudan and Ethiopia T6 U1 U3
[FTEA]

Ampelidaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:2. 1958

Morphology General Habit
A liane with pale woody stems up to 3 in. diam.
Morphology General Exudate
Cut stems exuding copious clear watery sap
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers cream
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits blackish-purple when ripe
Ecology
In savannah.
[FWTA]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images