Burseraceae
Commiphora

Commiphora caerulea Burtt

First published in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1935: 111 (1935)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tanzania to Botswana. It is a tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Burseraceae, J.B. Gillett. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1991

Morphology General Habit
Tree 3–15 m. tall with a regular spreading crown; trunk up to 80 cm. in diameter at breast height; bark of trunk and larger branches peeling each year about July in cream-coloured papery flakes; before peeling the trunks are a distinctive pale milky blue, afterwards a rich blue-green; exudate fluid, scentless; young twigs ± 1.2 mm. in diameter, fluted, pubescent, later grey and glabrescent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3–9(–11)-foliolate, pubescent all over or the hairs restricted to rhachis, margins and veins; rhachis up to 12 cm. long, including a petiole up to 6 cm.; leaflets elliptic or oblong-elliptic, rounded or acute at the apex, asymmetricallly rounded or pointed basally, with 12–20 teeth all along each side and an ultimate vein-network usually prominent both above and beneath; terminal leaflet cuneate at the base, ± 5 cm. long and 3 cm. wide, laterals on average 3 × 1.7 cm. Leaves and inflorescences clustered at the ends of short- and long-shoots.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers greenish yellow appearing with, or just before the young leaves in densely pubescent subumbellate cymes on peduncles up to 20 mm. long, but usually much less, ♂ inflorescences 3–6-, ♀ 1–3-flowered; bracts linear-triangular, brown, caducous, 1–2(–5) mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Receptacle
Receptacle densely pubescent, tumbler-shaped, 3 mm. long, 2.3 mm. wide, Calyx divided almost to the base into triangular-ovate densely pubescent 1.7 mm. long lobes, Petals pubescent outside, oblong, narrowed and reflexed distally but with a tiny inflexed apiculum, 4 mm. long × 1.2 mm. wide; filaments 3.0 and 2.5 mm., anthers 1.0 and 0.6 mm. long, the filaments 0.7 mm. wide at the base, tapering to a pointed tip.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits usually single, sometimes 2 or 3 together on a 2–11 mm. peduncle and 3–6 mm. pedicels; drupe pubescent at first, later glabrescent, flattened-ellipsoid, ± 15 × 12 mm. when fresh, ± 10 × 8 × (3 + 4) mm. when dry; pseudaril scarlet when mature, its larger lobe covering most of the fertile locule, the opposite lobe much smaller, sutural lobes absent; stone flattened-ellipsoid, indented at the base, both faces smooth and gently convex, ± 7.5 × 6.5 × (1.5 + 2 mm.).
Figures
Fig. 14/5–8.
Habitat
Open woodland and bushland; 500–1500 m.; rainfall 450–700 mm.
Distribution
T1 T4 T5 T6 T7
[FTEA]

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]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/167576677/169378148

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Burseraceae, H. Wild. Flora Zambesiaca 2:1. 1963

Morphology General Habit
Tree up to 12 m. tall; bark pale bluish-yellow, peeling in papery buffer straw-coloured strips; young branches greyish-pubescent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves pinnate or more rarely 3-foliolate; petiole up to 5 cm. long, pubescent; leaflets 2–3-jugate, up to 8 × 4–7 cm., elliptic or oblong-elliptic, apex acute, margin crenate-serrate, base rounded or very broadly cuneate, asymmetric, upper surface with a few scattered hairs on the nerves and midrib or glabrescent, more densely pubescent below; petiolules up to 3 mm. long, pubescent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers appearing with the very young leaves, in axillary dichasial cymes up to 2·5 cm. long or the female inflorescences reduced to very short 1–2-flowered cymes; branches of inflorescence greyish-pubescent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx c. 2·5 mm. long, campanulate, lobed to almost half-way, densely pilose outside.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals c. 3 mm. long, pilose outside except at the margins.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamen-filaments broadened and flattened towards the base.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
Disk-lobes not developed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit c. 1·5 cm. in diam., subglobose, somewhat flattened, glabrous; pseudaril covering about 3/4 of the endocarp, and becoming thin above; endocarp c. 1 × 0·8 cm., subcordiform, smooth, both faces moderately convex.
[FZ]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East 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/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/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