Cephalocroton mollis Klotzsch

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Photo: Orty Bourquin
Modisa Wildlife Project,Grassland Game Farm, Ghanzi district.

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Synonyms:	Cephalocroton depauperatus Pax & K. Hoffm. Cephalocroton pueschelii Pax
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Erect perennial herb or woody shrub, to 3.5 m tall. Stem densely stellate-hairy when young becoming glabrous and greyish with white lenticels. Leaves: lamina 1-10.5 ×0.5-5 cm, ovate-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, stellate-hairy to ± glabrous above, more densely hairy beneath, 3-5-veined from the base. Stipules 1-4 mm, filiform. Male flowers borne in a head on a 1-10 cm peduncle; female flowers arranged in a whorl of 1-4 at its base. Male flowers: calyx lobes 4, ovate; stamen filaments orange-yellow. Female flowers: sepals 6, 4 × 2 mm, expanding to 2.5 × 1 cm in fruit, 2-pinnatipartite. Fruit 3-lobed, pubescent.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	mollis: soft
Habitat:	Hot dry lowveld, in sandy soils, dry watercourses, grassy pans; also in mopane woodland and scrub.
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.
Botswana distribution:	N,SW,SE
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Saturday 6 February 2016
Literature:	Burrows, J.E., Burrows, S.M., Lötter, M.C. & Schmidt, E. (2018). Trees and Shrubs Mozambique Publishing Print Matters (Pty), Cape Town. Page 434. (Includes a picture). Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 40. Radcliffe-Smith, A. (1996). Euphorbiaceae Flora Zambesiaca 9(4) Pages 149 - 151. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 56.

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Flora of Malawi: Cephalocroton mollis
Flora of Mozambique: Cephalocroton mollis
Flora of Zimbabwe: Cephalocroton mollis

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Cephalocroton mollis
African Plant Database: Cephalocroton mollis
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Cephalocroton mollis
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Cephalocroton mollis
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Cephalocroton mollis
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Cephalocroton mollis
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Cephalocroton mollis
JSTOR Plant Science: Cephalocroton mollis
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Cephalocroton mollis
Plants of the World Online: Cephalocroton mollis
Tropicos: Cephalocroton mollis
Wikipedia: Cephalocroton mollis