Inversodicraea gabonensis (C.Cusset) Cheek (Cheek and Haba 2016: 2)

Bidault, Ehoarn, Boupoya, Archange, Ikabanga, Davy U., Nguimbit, Igor, Texier, Nicolas, Rutishauser, Rolf, Mesterhazy, Attila & Stevart, Tariq, 2023, Novitates Gabonenses 93: a fresh look at Podostemaceae in Gabon following recent inventories, with a new combination for Ledermanniella nicolasii, Plant Ecology and Evolution 156 (1), pp. 59-84 : 59

Inversodicraea gabonensis (C.Cusset) Cheek (Cheek and Haba 2016: 2)

Ledermanniella gabonensis C.Cusset ( Cusset 1983: 368, plate 2)

Type.

GABON • Ogoulou rapids at Mitingo ["Haute Ngounyé, rapides de l’Ogoulou à Mitingo"]; 19 Jul. 1926; [1°55 ’00” S, 11°18 ’00” E]; 200 m; fl., fr.; Le Testu 6017; holotype: P [P00179287]; isotype: BM [BM000910486] .

Distribution.

Gabon, Republic of the Congo. This species is solely known from five collections. Three are known from the Foulakari waterfalls (a tributary of the Congo river) and one from waterfalls on the Nyanga river in Mouvoungou, all in the Republic of the Congo. The only Gabonese collection, Le Testu 6017, was made on the Ogoulou river, a tributary of the Ngounié river, in 1926.

Habitat and ecology.

Rapids and falls in rivers from ca 60 to 190 m wide, 130-200 m in elevation. No information could be found regarding its abundance on sites where it has been found. Flowers were collected in May and July, fruits in July, August, September, and October. Another species is found at the Foulakari waterfalls ( Ledermanniella bifurcata ), though the precise habitat partitioning at this site is unknown.

Notes.

The type locality (in Gabon) has not been visited since 1926, nor other sites on the Ogoulou river. Sampling on the Ngounié river by authors and colleagues resumed only in 2019 with the exploration of the Impératrice waterfalls in Fougamou, far downstream, and did not lead to the collection of this species.