Xylopia Section Xylopia

Johnson, David M. & Murray, Nancy A., 2018, A revision of Xylopia L. (Annonaceae): the species of Tropical Africa, PhytoKeys 97, pp. 1-252 : 60

III. Xylopia Section Xylopia

Xylopia Section Habzelia Engler & Diels, Monogr. afrik. Pflanzen-Fam. 6: 58. 1901. Type: Xylopia aethiopica (Dunal) A. Richard (lectotype designated in Stull et al. 2017, p. 221).

Type.

Xylopia muricata Linnaeus.

Description.

Nodes with a branch from a single axillary bud; outer and inner petals linear, similar in length, in African species; inner petal margins curved inward at base but of uniform texture, lacking differentiated fleshy basal margins; anther connectives shieldlike at apex, overhanging the anther thecae; staminal cone present, completely concealing the ovaries, rim even; carpels (11-14) 45-50 in African species, the stigmas connivent, smooth; aril bilobed, fleshy; seed coat smooth, sarcotesta present or absent (absent in African species).

Notes.

All species of Xylopia occurring in the Mascarene Islands and in tropical America belong to this section. The section is represented in Africa by a single species, X. aethiopica , in Madagascar by four species, on the Mascarene Islands by three species, and in tropical America by about 60 species. The staminal cone is well-developed in all species of section Xylopia , as is the bilobed fleshy aril.