Viguieranthus kony (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Timber
Conservation status

Viguieranthus kony (R.Vig.) Villiers

Protologue: Du Puy, Legum. Madagascar: 277 (2002).

Family: Mimosaceae (Leguminosae - Mimosoideae)

• Calliandra kony R.Vig. (1949).

Viguieranthus kony is endemic to the eastern part of central Madagascar.

The wood is used for joinery.

The wood is yellow-grey and dense.

• Small to medium-sized tree up to 18 m tall; bole up to 30 cm in diameter; bark yellowish grey; young branches grey, glabrous.
• Leaves alternate, bipinnately compound with a single pair of pinnae; stipules leathery, persistent; petiole 4–12 mm long, with winged margins and gland at apex on upper side; pinna axis 1–3.5 cm long, with winged margins; leaflets 11–19 per pinna, alternate to opposite near apex, sessile, oblong-rhombic to oblong-obovate, up to 17 mm × 6 mm, asymmetrical at base, rounded to acute at apex, glabrous.
• Inflorescence an axillary raceme 2.5–6 cm long, solitary or in clusters, many-flowered; peduncle 2.5–3.5 cm long.
• Flowers bisexual, regular, 4–5-merous; calyx cup-shaped, c. 0.5 mm long, leathery; petals fused at base, (5–)6–7.5 mm long, pale greenish yellow; stamens numerous, fused at base, 14.5–18 mm long; ovary superior, stalked, hairy, 1-celled, style long and slender.
• Fruit not known.

Viguieranthus comprises about 23 species, 18 of them endemic to Madagascar, the remaining species in tropical Asia. The wood of several Viguieranthus species is used in Madagascar.

Viguieranthus cylindricostachys

The wood of Viguieranthus cylindricostachys Villiers, a small tree up to 15 m tall from central and eastern Madagascar, is used for construction and as firewood.

Viguieranthus longiracemosus

The wood of Viguieranthus longiracemosus Villiers, a medium-sized tree up to 20 m tall from eastern Madagascar, is used in house building.

Viguieranthus pervillei

The wood of Viguieranthus pervillei (Drake) Villiers, a small tree up to 12 m tall from northern and eastern Madagascar, is also used for construction.

Viguieranthus kony occurs in humid evergreen forest, from sea-level up to 1000 m altitude. It is locally common.

The comparatively small distribution area of Viguieranthus kony makes it liable to genetic erosion, although it is apparently locally common. There are only a few protected forests in this area.

Viguieranthus kony and other Viguieranthus species will remain of little local importance for their timber, being either smaller-sized trees or uncommon.

• du Puy, D.J., Labat, J.N., Rabevohitra, R., Villiers, J.-F., Bosser, J. & Moat, J., 2002. The Leguminosae of Madagascar. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 750 pp.

• Lewis, G., Schrire, B., MacKinder, B. & Lock, M., 2005. Legumes of the world. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 577 pp.

• R.H.M.J. Lemmens, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Lemmens, R.H.M.J., 2007. Viguieranthus kony (R.Vig.) Villiers. In: Louppe, D., Oteng-Amoako, A.A. & Brink, M. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 5 April 2025.

• See the Prota4U database.