Acalypha engleri Pax (1905: 372)

Muñoz-Rodríguez, Pablo, Cardiel, José María & Atha, Daniel, 2014, Acalypha subgenus Linostachys (Euphorbiaceae, Acalyphoideae): a global review, Phytotaxa 166 (3), pp. 199-221 : 207

8. Acalypha engleri Pax (1905: 372) . Lectotype (designated here): ― TANZANIA. Tanga: Ost-Usambara , unterer

Vorgebirgsbuschwald zwischen Muhesa und Lungusa, 100–170 m, 12 September 1902, A . Engler 357 ( K 237884 ,

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= Acalypha sigensis Pax & Hoffmann in Engler (1924: 92). Type:― TANZANIA. Tanga: Usambara , Sigi-Tal , date unknown, C.P. Braun 1503 (holotype B [presumably destroyed]).

Distribution:— Africa. East Tropical Africa: Kenya and Tanzania.

Voucher:— TANZANIA. T8 , Lindi District: Rondo Plateau, Rondo Forest Reserve , 750 m, 10º07’S, 39º13’E, 7 February 1991 , S. Bidgood , R. Abdallah & K. Vollesen 1388 ( C, K) .

References:— Hutchinson (1912: 897), Mildbraed (1914: 458, 677), Pax & Hoffmann (1924: 92), Radcliffe- Smith (1987: 196), Lebrun & Stork (1991: 204, 2006: 17), Friis & Vollesen (1998: 154, 2005: 609), Burgess & Clarke (2000: 242), Govaerts et al. (2000: 61), Klopper et al. (2006: 275), Sagun et al. (2006:124).

Notes:— Almost all collections by Engler were destroyed in the Berlin herbarium fire ( Hiepko 1987). We designate as lectotype of Acalypha engleri one specimen found in the K herbarium .

The pistillate flowers of Acalypha engleri are described as having three sepals, as noted by Pax (1905) and Radcliffe-Smith (1987). This is usual in Acalypha subgenus Acalypha but is not so in subgenus Linostachys . However, the studied collections frequently present pistillate flowers with four or five usually unequal sepals, and the remaining distinctive features of subgenus Linostachys are also present in this species (non-accrescent minute bracts, pistillate flowers pedicellate); furthermore, A. engleri is morphologically close to other African species within Linostachys (e.g. A. acrogyna and A. echinus ). This species still requires a more detailed study.