Vitex rubroaurantiaca De Wild.

Meerts, Pierre, 2018, Synopsis of the genus Vitex (Lamiaceae) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Plant Ecology and Evolution 151 (3), pp. 380-392 : 389

16. Vitex rubroaurantiaca De Wild.

( De Wildeman 1929a: 15, as “ rubro­aurantiaca ”).

– Type: D.R. Congo, entre Masisi et Walikale, 3 Jan. 1915, forêt vierge, Bequaert 6469 (lecto-: BR barcode BR 0000008906236, designated here ; isolecto-: BR barcode BR 0000008906175) .

Vitex duboisii Moldenke ( Moldenke 1952: 60) ; Moldenke (1955b: 327); Lebrun & Stork (1997: 524).

– Type: D.R. Congo, Kutu, Ekota territ., Tshuapa distr., Sept. 1934, Dubois 608 (holo-: BR barcode BR 0000008906182 ; iso-: BR barcode BR 0000008906199), synon. nov .

Vitex lebrunii Moldenke ( Moldenke 1952: 62) ; Moldenke (1956: 435); Lebrun & Stork (1997: 525).

– Type: D.R. Congo, Entre Walikale et Koleke, Mar. 1932, Lebrun 5303 (holo-: BR barcode BR 0000008905581 ; iso-: BR barcode BR 0000008905604, Kbarcode K 000192764, Pbarcode P 00464225), synon. nov .

A shrub, generally blackening in herbarium, almost glabrous in all its parts. Leaves 5-foliolate; petiolule 1–15 mm, lamina narrowly elliptic-oblanceolate, long attenuate at base, acuminate, 5–10 secondary veins. Inflorescence of dichasia, few-flowered, much shorter then subtending leaf, peduncle <30 mm, branches puberulous, compressed; calyx 2–3.5 mm, sparsely puberulous, corolla orange or whitish, 10–12 mm. Fruit c. 22 mm long, yellow.

Distribution – Endemic to D.R. Congo.

Notes – The type specimens of Vitex duboisii De Wild. and Vitex lebrunii Moldenke show the characteristic traits of Vitex rubroaurantiaca , i.e. glabrous leaves blackening in herbarium, very short peduncle, few-flowered inflorescence, yellow fruits.

Lectotypification of Vitex rubroaurantiaca De Wild. One gatheringiscitedintheprotologue (Bequaert 6469), represented in BR by two isotypes (BR barcodes BR0000008906236 & BR0000008906175). Iselect the sheet with De Wildeman’s handwriting on the label as the lectotype.