Napoleonaea beninensis

Common Name: Napoleonaea

Family: Lecythidaceae

Country of Origin: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria

Description: Shrub 2 m high to 15 m high tree. Leaves alternate; petiole 3-6 mm long; lamina 7-15 × 3-7 cm, obovate to elliptic, glabrous, with 4-7 pairs of main laterals; base rounded to acute; apex acuminate. Inflorescences cauliflorous but also between the leaves. Flowers sessile or almost so. Calyx with 5 valvate lobes. Corolla to 5 cm in diam., basal half completely dark red spreading out in star-pattern. Free outer corona rays 10 mm long, often with red tip; inner corona 15 mm long, red at base and apex, pale yellowish in between. Fruit up to 6 cm wide and 5 cm high, yellow or orange, with colourless, edible pulp.¹

USDA Zone: 10-12

Accession #: 199800130

Accession Date: 1998-09-17 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🪴 Not Flowering

Location: 1103

Quantity: 1

Source: Tim Devine - CSU Chico

Provenance:

Received as Napoleonaea vogelii from CSU Chico.

Correspondence with Chad Husby at Fairchild BG in May 2015 revealed this is actually N. beninensis. 

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Subclass: asterids

Order: Ericales

Family: Lecythidaceae

SubFamily: Napoleonaeoideae