266-299 - SABONET

SIMAROUBACEAE
Selago thyrsoidea Baker var. thyrsoidea
Selago nyikensis Rolfe; Selago thyrsoidea Baker var. nyikensis (Rolfe) Brenan
Suffrutex with several tufted stems 0.2–1 m tall, from a woody rootstock;
leaves sharply ascending, more or less fascicled, linear to oblanceolate, apex
acute, margin entire; flowers in few-flowered racemes, pale to deep violetblue,
bracts oblong-lanceolate, hairy; in montane grassland, often among
rocks; 2,100–2,450 m. A near-endemic, known only from the Nyika Pla-
Brucea antidysenterica J.F.Mill
Trichilia siderotricha Chiov.
Small, sparsely-branched tree to 6 m tall, twigs with prominent leaf-scars
and golden-brown hairs; leaves alternate, imparipinnate, with 3–5 pairs of
leaflets, leaflets hairy above and below, margins wavy; flowers in small
clusters widely spaced along an axillary spike; fruit in clusters, red; in
*Physalis peruviana L.
Cape gooseberry; Chichewa: ntongo, jamu
Perennial herb or shrublet to 0.9 m; leaves more or less opposite, ovatetriangular,
ca 100 x 60 mm, softly hairy, very shallowly toothed or lobed,
petiole to 25 mm; flowers solitary, axillary, conical, mustard yellow; fruit a
greenish to yellow berry completely enclosed by a papery calyx to 30 mm
long; a weed of disturbed areas, roadsides, and fallow land, sometimes
cultivated. A native of S. America, now widespread in much of Africa. The
ripe fruit is edible, tasty, and often used to make jam or a stewed dessert.
Source. Banda & Morris (1986: 57).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979).
Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq.
Shrub to ca 1.5 m tall, stems densely hairy and bearing many straight spines
to 12 mm long; leaves ca 180 x 160 mm, deeply lobed, hairy and bearing
slender spines to 15 mm long; flowers white, ca 16 x 30 mm, peduncle
0.5 mm long, pedicels ca 11 mm long; fruit round, pale yellow or whitish,
streaked green, ca 35 mm diameter; in forest clearings and disturbed areas,
often associated with pine plantations. Widespread throughout Africa; also
in Brazil. Thought possibly to have been introduced to Africa several hundred
years ago.
Source. Bukenya & Carasco (1995: 51).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979); road to Domwe Viewpoint, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6794
(MAL); road to Juniper Forest, 7,800’, 1975, Pawek 9949 (White et al. 2001:
553).
Zambia. Nyika National Park, Manyenjere, Kasoma, and Chowo Forests
(Dowsett-Lemaire 1985: 323).
Solanum anguivi Lam.
Solanum indicum auctt., non L.
Perennial shrub 2–5 m tall, stems with stellate hairs and some almost conical
prickles; leaves elliptic-ovate, 100–200 x 50–100 mm, hairy, with or
without a few prickles, sinuate to shallowly lobed, base truncate to cordate;
flowers white, ca 10 x 10 mm; fruit small, round, in clusters, shiny,
orange or red when ripe; in montane forest, secondary montane scrub,
disturbed areas in shade. Widespread in Africa; also in Madagascar and
India. Grown in tropical Africa for its fruit. Some authors have recognized
a number of subspecies.
Source. Brummitt (1973); Bukenya & Carasco (1995: 54).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, forest 4 km W. of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt
& Synge 74 (K, MAL, SRGH, FHO, EA); road to Domwe, 2000, Winter
4084 (MAL, PRE); Mpopoti Hill, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6787
(MAL).
*Solanum mammosum L.
Shrub to 1.5 m tall, stems densely hairy, with slightly recurved prickles
5 mm long; leaves ca 110 x 90 mm, lobed to about half the width of the
272 Plants of the Nyika Plateau
SIMAROUBACEAE
SOLANACEAE
teau and the Mafinga Hills.
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 171 (1990); Hilliard (1999: 222).
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 7,000’, 1896, Whyte 144 (K, holo.); road from
Chelinda to Kasaramba, just past Chelinda Bridge turning, 2,410 m, 1970,
Brummitt 10721 (K); Chelinda Falls, 1981, Salubeni 3061 (E, MO, SRGH);
Chelinda Bridge, 2000, Mwanyambo 538 (MAL).
Zambia. Nyika, without locality, 1966, Fanshawe 9735 (K, SRGH).
understorey of montane rainforest; 1,400–2,200 m. Malawi and Zambia
northwards to W. Africa and Ethiopia. Rare on Nyika.
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 212 (1960); Dowsett-Lemaire (1985: 390).
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Kasyaula and Zovochipolo Forests (Dowsett-Lemaire
1985).
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Kasoma Forest (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985).
leaf, hairy on both sides, with prickles on midrib and veins; flowers ca
12 mm long, violet to blue; fruit to 50 mm wide, ?yellow, bearing a terminal
‘nipple’; in disturbed habitats or cultivated. Native to the Caribbean
region, cultivated as a medicine or as a cockroach poison. Poisonous if
eaten.
Source. Bukenya & Carasco (1995: 51).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel
1999).
*Solanum nigrum L.
Solanum guineense (L.) Lam.; Solanum suffruticosum Schousb. ex Willd.
black nightshade; Chichewa: mnadzi; Yao: mnesi; Tumbuka: msaka,
musaka
Erect branched annual herb 0.6–1 m tall, completely without prickles; leaves
alternate, ovate-elliptic, margin entire or lobed, glabrous; flowers stellate,
8–18 mm diameter, white with yellow centre; fruit round, purplish to black
when ripe, peduncles erect to spreading, pedicels much shorter than the
peduncles, recurved; a weedy plant of disturbed areas. Regarded as indigenous
to Eurasia, but possibly also natural in Africa. The leaves are cooked
as ndiwo (a vegetable); the ripe berries are eaten, but the green berries are
regarded as poisonous.
Source. Bukenya & Carasco (1995: 46).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979); Chelinda Bridge, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6773 (MAL).
Solanum panduriforme E.Mey.
apple of Sodom, bitter apple; Chichewa: nthula, mathika, ntunduwele;
Yao: ntungwisa
Spiny perennial shrubby herb to 1.2 m; leaves simple, alternate, to 125 x
60 mm, oblong-lanceolate, sinuate, undersurface densely hairy, few spines
along midrib below; flowers cup-shaped, lilac to purple; fruit a yellow or
orange berry to 70 mm diameter, poisonous; a weed, often an indicator of
overgrazing, in disturbed areas, roadsides. Eastern and Central Africa; also
in Arabia and India. Roots used to treat boils; the fruit is also used medicinally,
used to cure mange on dogs.
Source. J. Williamson (1975: 216); Banda & Morris (1986: 142).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979).
Solanum schumannianum Dammer
Solanum ulugurense Dammer; Solanum subulatum C.H.Wright
Shrub or small tree to 4 m tall, stems unarmed, but usually with bristly
hairs; leaves to 140 x 50 mm, lanceolate-elliptic, acute to acuminate, entire,
undersurface more or less hairless; flowers white, fruit ca 10 mm diameter;
in light shade in forest or on forest margins. Malawi, Tanzania,
and Kenya.
Source. White et al. (2001: 554).
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Zovochipolo, without collecting details (Dowsett-
Lemaire 1985: 335).