Phyllanthus ovalifolius

Botanical Description

Phyllanthus ovalifolius is a much-branched, often dense, scrambling or spreading, weak-stemmed shrub or a tree, sometimes with a climbing habit. It usually grows 2 - 5 metres tall, occasionally to 10 metres. The branches are long and slender; either horizontal, arching or pendent[ 308 Title Flora Zambesiaca Publication Author Website http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of materials for basketry. Phyllanthus ovalifolius has a very wide distribution, large population, is not currently experiencing any major threats and no significant future threats have been identified. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2020)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].