Balanophoraceae
Thonningia

Thonningia sanguinea Vahl

First published in Skr. Naturhist.-Selsk. 6: 125 (1810)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tropical Africa. It is a holoparasite and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

Flora Zambesiaca. Vol. 9, Part 3. Polygonaceae-Myriaceae. Pope GV, Polhill RM, Martins ES. 2006.

Type
Lectotype, chosen by Hansen (1993), from Ghana.
Morphology General Habit
Plant to 18 cm tall Plant to 18 cm tall.
Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizomes 3–8 mm diameter, pubescent Rhizomes 3–8 mm diameter, pubescent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Peduncles
Peduncles 0–13 cm tall, glabrous to pubescent (particularly in axils of scales); scales 4–10 × 2–5 mm, ovate to lanceolate, acute, margins sometimes irregularly and obscurely serrulate, rigid, glabrous Peduncles 0–13 cm tall, glabrous to pubescent (particularly in axils of scales); scales 4–10 × 2–5 mm, ovate to lanceolate, acute, margins sometimes irregularly and obscurely serrulate, rigid, glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence heads 2.5–5 cm long, opening to 1.5–5.5 cm broad Inflorescence heads 2.5–5 cm long, opening to 1.5–5.5 cm broad.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flowers: perianth 1–1.5 mm long; style 2–3 mm long, filiform Male flowers 8–15 mm long; perianth segments 2–4, lanceolate, acute; stamens 2–6 in cylindrical synandrium, anthers whitish-cream Male flowers 8–15 mm long; perianth segments 2–4, lanceolate, acute; stamens 2–6 in cylindrical synandrium, anthers whitish-cream. Female flowers: perianth 1–1.5 mm long; style 2–3 mm long, filiform.
Ecology
Forests, thickets and adjacent savanna on a variety of hosts; 230–1676 m.
Distribution
ZAM B, ZAM W Zambia Tropical Africa down to Angola and Zambia
Vegetative Multiplication Tubers
Tuber irregularly shaped from subspherical up to 8–10 cm diameter to elongate, 5–17 × 1.3–4 cm, densely pubescent. Tuber irregularly shaped from subspherical up to 8–10 cm diameter to elongate, 5–17 × 1.3–4 cm, densely pubescent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts
Bracts 5–30 × 3–11 mm, ovate to lanceolate, acute to acuminate, margins irregularly and obscurely serrulate, rigid, becoming smaller towards base of involucre and continuous with scales on peduncle, pinkish-crimson turning brown with age. Bracts 5–30 × 3–11 mm, ovate to lanceolate, acute to acuminate, margins irregularly and obscurely serrulate, rigid, becoming smaller towards base of involucre and continuous with scales on peduncle, pinkish-crimson turning brown with age
sex Male
Male flowers 8–15 mm long; perianth segments 2–4, lanceolate, acute; stamens 2–6 in cylindrical synandrium, anthers whitish-cream.
sex Female
Female flowers: perianth 1–1.5 mm long; style 2–3 mm long, filiform.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits Infructescences
Infructescence 2.5–3.5 cm diameter, dull reddish-black to crimson, looking like a strawberry. Infructescence 2.5–3.5 cm diameter, dull reddish-black to crimson, looking like a strawberry
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 0.75–1.5 mm long, ellipsoid, creamy. Seeds 0.75–1.5 mm long, ellipsoid, creamy.
[FZ]

Balanophoraceae, B. Hansen. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1993

Morphology General Habit
Tuber trailing 10–15 cm. below soil surface, 20 cm. or more long, 0.6–0.8 (1–1.5 in swollen part) cm. in diameter, minutely pilose.
Morphology Stem
Inflorescence-bearing stems appearing a few cm. above soil-surface with their bright red, flowering upper parts, 5–20 cm. long from tuber.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves triangular-ovate, lower ± 8 × 4 mm., upper 20 × 8 mm., forming an involucre around the spadix.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence 2.8–3 × 3.2–3.9 cm., ♂ spadices depressed-hemispherical, ♀ spadices hemispherical.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers apparently ebracteate or ♂ subtended by minute reduced bracts. Male flowers, including pedicel, up to 1.5 cm. long with perianth-segments ± 3 mm. long and synandrium 5–6 mm. long. Female flowers 3 mm. long, ovary with perianth ± 2 mm., style 1–1.5 mm.
sex Male
Male flowers, including pedicel, up to 1.5 cm. long with perianth-segments ± 3 mm. long and synandrium 5–6 mm. long.
sex Female
Female flowers 3 mm. long, ovary with perianth ± 2 mm., style 1–1.5 mm.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits Infructescences
Infructescence dark red, fleshy, ovoid, with spadix strongly swelling above involucre.
Figures
Fig. 2.
Habitat
In rain-forest and adjacent woodland, parasitizing roots of Funtumia africana ( Apocynaceae) , Bridelia micrantha ( Euphorbiaceae) , Acacia mildbraedii, Baphia nitida, Pentachlethra eetveldeana ( Leguminosae) , Antiaris africana ( Moraceae) , Myrianthus arboreus ( Cecropiaceae); 750–1700 m.
Distribution
K5 T1 T4 U2 U4 tropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and southwards to N. Angola and Zambia
[FTEA]

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

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Peduncle and flower-heads with crimson or pink scales, turning brown; only creamy white pollen and anthers show in the open flower-heads
Ecology
Common in forest, rare in savannah; parasitic on many different hosts.
[FWTA]

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]

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

  • 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