Monodora minor Engl. & Diels
Tree to 6-7 m high; d.b.h. to 5 cm; bark smooth, blue-grey; young branches green, smooth, glabrous, with a grey-bluish wax cover on the dried material; old branches dark grey to brown, striate, glabrous. Petioles 4-5(-7) mm long, 1-1.5 mm in diameter, glabrous, lamina inserted on side, broadly grooved adaxially, with grey wax layer. Leaf lamina 7-13 cm long, 3.5-6 cm wide, length:width ratio 1.8-2(3), obovate or rarely narrowly obovate, base rounded to acute, apex acuminate, acumen ca. 10 mm, coriaceous, glabrous, dark green glossy above, flaccid polish green below; midrib but sunken towards the base afaxially, glabrous on both sides; secondary veins 8-11 pairs, uniformally curving upwards, glabrous. Inflorescences erect above foliage, 2-3-flowered rhipidia, leaf-opposed or supra axillary, born during the leaf flush. Flowering pedicels 10-30 mm long, glabrous, with grey wax layer. Upper bract inserted around the center tor sub-apically on the pedicel, 25-30 mm long, ca. 15 mm wide, length:width ratio 1.5-2, ovate, base decurrent, apex slightly acuminate, glabrous, light green with red steaks towards base; margins undulate, glabrous. Sepals 6-10 mm long, 3-5 mm long, length:width ratio 1.5-2, ovate, base truncate, apex rounded to acute, glabrous, green-grey with red steaks towards base; strongly curved upwards, falling when in fruit, margins undulate, glabrous. Outer petals 11-25 mm long, 5-12 mm wide, length:width ratio 1.8-2.5, ovate to narrowly ovate, base truncate, apex acute to rounded, glabrous, yellow streaked with red; hanging down when immature to spreading upwards at anthesis, margins undulate, glabrous. Inner petals 5-8 mm long, 6-13 mm wide, length:width ratio 0.5-1.1, clawed, cordate, base cordate, apex acuminate to obtuse, inside very densely covered with ca. 2 mm long straight hairs, glabrous outside, light yellow striped with purple and red, lamina connivent at margins over receptacle, margins non undulate, densely covered with short curly hairs; claw 3-5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, claw:inner petal ratio 0.6-0.7, glabrous, bright yellow. Receptacle 4-5 mm in diameter, slightly convex. Stamens in 6-8 rows, ca. 0.7 mm long; connective shield ca. 0.2 long, densely covered with short erect hairs, yellow whitish, those of innermost row slightly appressed against ovary wall. Ovary 0.8-1 mm long, ca. 0.8 mm wide; stigma 1-1.5 mm in diameter, glabrous to sparsely covered with short erect hairs. Fruiting pedicels 6-7 cm long, 2-3 mm in diameter, glabrous. Fruits 25-35 mm long, 15-20 mm in diameter, length:width ratio 1.7-2, ellipsoid to ovoid, apiculate, apicule 3-4 mm long, smooth, glabrous, pale green with white dots, covered in places with grey wax layer; pericarp 1-2 mm thick. Seeds 10-13 mm long, 8-10 mm wide, transversely to flat ellipsoid, no apparent pulp on dried material; testa smooth, dark brown; raphe thickened, rugose, very dark brown; hilum 4-5 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide, narrowly elliptical.
Monodora minor is easily recognizable by its many-flowered erect rhipidia, while all other species are strictly one-flowered and pendulous, and by the characteristic grey wax layer found on young leaves, branches, pedicels, and fruits. Based on flower morphology this species closely resembles M. carolinae by the connivance of the inner petals and the upward spreading outer petals.
VU B2ab(ii, iii). Monodora minor is moderately represented in herbaria. It is mainly found in small patches of coastal forests near populated areas. It has been collected from several forest reserves (Rondo, Zaraninge, Pande, Pugu and Bane in Tanzania). The area of occupancy is less than 500 km2 but it is found in about ten locations, so the “vulnerable” category seems appropriate.
The position of M. minor in the molecular phylogeny is unresolved within the East African clade.
Coastal Tanzania and the very North of Mozambique; in woodland, coastal wet forests and thickets; at 100-780 m altitude.