Annona senegalensis Pers. ssp. senegalensis, Syn. Pl. 2: 95, 1807

Couvreur, Thomas L. P., Dagallier, Leo-Paul M. J., Crozier, Francoise, Ghogue, Jean-Paul, Hoekstra, Paul H., Kamdem, Narcisse G., Johnson, David M., Murray, Nancy A. & Sonke, Bonaventure, 2022, Flora of Cameroon - Annonaceae Vol 45, PhytoKeys 207, pp. 1-532 : 44-46

Annona senegalensis Pers. ssp. senegalensis, Syn. Pl. 2: 95, 1807

Fig. 8 ; Map 1F

= Annona arenaria Thonn., Beskr. Guin. Pl. 257, 1827. non Robyns & Ghesq., Bull. Soc. Roy. Bot. Belge 67: 22, 1934. Type. Ghana. Thonning s.n.: holotype: P [Herb. Jussieu, number: 10799].

= Annona chrysophylla Bojer, Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. ser. 2, 20: 53, 1943; Annona senegalensis var. chrysophylla (Boj.) Sillans, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., sér. 2, 24: 581 (1952). Type. Comores. Anjouan [Ndzuwani, Nzwani], Bojer W. s.n., s.d.: holotype: We were not able to locate the type specimen. Verdcourt (1971a) suggests it is possibly in P, but it isn’t amongst the scanned specimens, so likely not in P. No specimens were found in W either.

= Annona senegalensis var. latifolia Oliv., Fl. Trop. Africa: 17, 1868. Type. Uganda. Northern region, Madi, Speke & Grant s.n., s.d.: holotype: We were not able to locate the type specimen, which should be in Kew ( Oliver 1868, p. 17, Robyns and Ghesquière 1934).

Annona porpetac Boiv. ex Baill.; Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Paris 1. 341, 1882; Annona senegalensis var. porpetac (Boiv. Ex Baill.) Diels, Notizbl. Konigl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 9: 356, 1934. Type. Madagascar. Antsiranana Province, Nossi Be, Bovin M. 2115, 1846: holotype: P[P030360].

Type.

Senegal: Roussillon 69, 1798: holotype: P[P00363244].

Description.

Tree to shrub, 1-10 m tall, d.b.h. 2-10 cm; stilt roots or buttresses absent. Indumentum of simple hairs; old leafless branches glabrous, young foliate branches brown tomentose. Leaves: petiole 10-20 mm long, 1-2 mm in diameter, brown tomentose, grooved, blade inserted on top of the petiole; blade 7-25 cm long, 4-19 cm wide, broadly obovate to broadly elliptic, apex rounded, base subcordate, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, below densely pubescent with straight hairs to glabrescent when young and old, above sparsely pubescent to glabrous when young, glabrous when old, discolorous, whitish below; midrib impressed, above glabrous when young and old, below densely pubescent when young and old; secondary veins 7 to 16 pairs, glabrous above; tertiary venation percurrent but also appearing reticulate, dense. Individuals bisexual; inflorescences ramiflorous on old or young foliate branches, leaf opposed. Flowers with 9 perianth parts in 3 whorls, 1 to 2 per inflorescence; pedicel 10-20 mm long, 1-2 mm in diameter, brown tomentose; in fruit 25-50 mm long, 3-4 mm in diameter, pubescent; bracts 2, all basal, 1-4 mm long, 2-3 mm wide; sepals 3, valvate, free, 3-4 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, broadly triangular to circular, apex acute, base truncate, green, densely pubescent outside, glabrous inside, margins flat; petals free, outer longer than inner; outer petals 3, 10-15 mm long, 8-9 mm wide, ovate, apex acute, base truncate, yellow to green, margins flat, tomentose outside, glabrous inside; inner petals 3, valvate, 8-10 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic, apex acute, base truncate, yellow-green, margins flat, glabrous outside, glabrous inside; stamens numerous (not counted), 2-3 mm long, linear; connective discoid, shortly pubescent; staminodes absent; carpels free, numerous (not counted), ovary 1-2 mm long, stigma capitate, glabrous. Fruit pseudosyncarpous; 20-50 mm long, 20-30 mm in diameter, obovoid to globose, yellow orange at maturity, monocarps sessile, numerous, apex flat, glabrous, smooth, yellow to orange when ripe; seed 1, 8-10 mm long, 4-5 mm in diameter, flattened ellipsoid; aril absent.

Distribution.

A west, central and east African and northern Malagasy subspecies from Senegal to Mozambique; in Cameroon known from the Adamaoua, Central, East, Far North, North, North-West, South-West and West regions.

Habitat.

A common species; in lowland savanna regions towards the north, at higher altitudes towards the southern region, may, sometimes be the dominant tree species across the savanna. Altitude 100-1400 m a.s.l.

Local and common names known in Cameroon.

Falŏ (dial. Bamileke ( Burkill 1985)); pomme-cannelle du Sénégal (French); African custard-apple; wild custard apple, wild soursop (English).

Uses in Cameroon.

food: fruit is eaten, flower for sauces, condiments, spices, flavourings; medicine: root as pain-killer, against diarrh dysentery, cholera, venereal diseases, bark used as vermifuges, diuretics, genital stimulants/depressants, lactation stimulants; construction: house building, furniture; dyes and tannins: astringents, insecticides, arachnicides; products: wood fire; fuel and lighting; social: religion, superstitions, magic.

Notes.

Annona senegalensis subsp. senegalensis is distinguished by the pubescence of the lower side of the leaf blade which ranges from densely pubescent (but not tomentose) with short but straight hairs (not curly as in subsp. Annona senegalensis oulotricha ) to glabrescent. See notes under subsp. Annona senegalensis oulotricha and Le Thomas (1969c) for more details. The fruits are edible.

Le Thomas (1969c p. 2) suggested that there exists a specimen of Thonning sent to Jussieu by Vahl in 1804 and present in P (under catalogue number 10779 from Herb. Jussieu) and that this would be the lectotype. However, we were not able to locate this specimen using the online scanned material.

Specimens examined.

Adamaoua Region: Dodéo, 7.48°N, 12.07°E, 01 March 1939, Jacques-Félix H. 3388 (P); Bountoun Mboun mountains ca 40 km N of Ngaoundere, 7.9°N, 13.48°E, 12 April 1977, Nordal I. 929 (P). Central Region : Bibbanga, 3.72°N, 10.3°E, 09 March 1927, Hédin L. 409 (P). East Region : Bertoua-Batouri, 4.58°N, 13.68°E, 01 January 1962, Vroumsia T. 116 (P). Far-North Region : Douzeye (c Bongor), 10.1°N, 15.28°E, 08 January 1968, Achoundong G. 1385 (P); Plaine de Maroua à 5 km au NO de Maroua, 10.6°N, 14.28°E, 18 August 1964, Biholong M. 28 (P); ca 5 km W of Maroua, 10.6°N, 14.28°E, 02 September 1964, de Wilde W.J.J.O 2966 (MO); Bogo ( Maroua ), 10.7°N, 14.61°E, 01 May 1939, Jacques-Félix H. 3737 (P); Reserve forestière du Mayo Louti (10 km W de Mokolo), 10.7°N, 13.8°E, 10 September 1964, Letouzey R. 6779 (P); Mora, 11.0°N, 14.14°E, 01 January 1945, Vaillant A. 15 (P). North Region : Pitoa, 9.38°N, 13.50°E, 25 March 1974, Achoundong G. 3419 (P); Garoua, 9.3°N, 13.4°E, 04 August 1955, de Wit H.C.D 7182 (WAG); Ecole de faune de Garoua, 9.3°N, 13.4°E, 09 August 2000, Dong E. 391 (P). North-West Region : Piste Munka (=Munkep) 45 km NNW Wum, 6.8°N, 9.97°E, 09 July 1975, Letouzey R. 13988 (MO). South-West Region: Ndop Plain Hillside above Courtar Ndop Amp ref No 28, 6.02°N, 10.49°E, 01 March 1962, Brunt M.A. 51 (K). West Region: Bangwa, 5.2°N, 10.48°E, 12 May 1964, de Wilde W.J.J.O 2389 (P,WAG) .

Figures

Map 1. A Afroguatteria discostigma B Annickia affinis C Annickia chlorantha D Annickia letestui E Annickia polycarpa F Annona senegalensis G Annona senegalensis subsp. oulotricha H Anonidium brieyi I Anonidium mannii. White borders represent region limits in Cameroon; green patches represent protected areas (see methods and Suppl. material 1: Fig. S 1).

Figure 8. Annona senegalensis subsp. senegalensis A flowering branch B detail of pubescence on lower side of leaf blade C leaf D detail of pubescence on lower side of leaf blade E longitudinal section of the flower F stamen G carpel, side view and view of the single basal ovule H seed. Annona senegalensis subsp. oulotricha I leaf J detail of pubescence on lower side of leaf blade K fruit branch showing two pseudosyncarpous fruits. Annona glabra L leaf M section of fruit. Drawings by Helene Lamourdedieu, Publications Scientifiques du Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris; modified from Le Thomas (1969 b; pl. 56, p. 321).