Cladostemon kirkii, is a small deciduous tree belonging to the Capparaceae

Capparaceae

Capparaceae , commonly known as the Caper family, is a family of plants in order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, it contains 33 genera and about 700 species...

 or caper

Caper

Capparis spinosa, the caper bush, is a perennial winter-deciduous species that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. A caper is also the pickled bud of this plant...

 family. It is a genus that has only this one species (monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

). It is distributed through Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

, Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

, Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

, Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

, Swaziland

Swaziland

Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...

 and KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....

 in Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

.

The species is named after Sir John Kirk

John Kirk (explorer)

Sir John Kirk was a Scottish physician, naturalist, companion to explorer David Livingstone, and British administrator in Zanzibar. He was born in Barry, near Arbroath, Scotland and is buried in St. Nicholas's churchyard in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. He earned his medical degree from the...

 (1832-1922), David Livingstone

David Livingstone

David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...

's companion on his Zambezi expedition of 1858 and the first European collector of the plant near Tete

Tete

-External links:* *...

 in Mozambique.

Description

Cladostemon kirki has leaves that are trifoliolate with obovate leaflets that are glabrous with a thin texture and a common petiole up to 200 mm long. Twigs and branches are flexible and herbaceous.

The fragrant inflorescences are terminal or axillary, greenish at first, then white with pink venation, and finally turn yellow with age. The individual flowers are asymmetric, the two upper petals being much larger than the lower. The 15 cm long stamens are fused for most of their length, forming an androphore.

The large pendulous fruits are gourd-shaped, have a leathery texture and are up to 12 cm in diameter, hang from long, thick, sharply bent, jointed stalks, and give off an odour repulsive to humans on being picked.

Distribution

This tree is found in bushveld and sand forest, in open woodland and scrub, preferring sandy soils in hot areas. The animals pollinating this species' flowers are as yet unknown, while the large size of the fruit suggests eating and dispersal by a large animal such as elephant, rhino or buffalo.

Flowering Plants of Africa

Flowering Plants of Africa

Flowering Plants of Africa is a series of illustrated botanical magazines akin to Curtis's Botanical Magazine, initiated as Flowering Plants of South Africa by I. B. Pole-Evans in 1920 and currently published by the South African National Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria...

, vol. 52, plate no. 2079, from a specimen collected by Elsa Pooley

Elsa Pooley

Elsa Pooley , is a South African botanist, landscaper, tour guide, and artist.She lived in and explored the game reserves Ndumu and Mkuzi for about 20 years, where she became inspired by the flora of the region. She collected plants, painted them, wrote about them, and gardened with them...

 in 1991 at the St. Lucia Estuary, illustrates the species well and may be seen here.

See also

• Southern African Sand Forest
  Southern African Sand Forest
  Southern African Sand Forest is a subtropical forest ecoregion of the Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests] Biome. It grows on ancient sand dunes in northern KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique...