Astropanax polysciadus (Harms) Lowry, G.M. Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin, 2017

Lowry Ii, Porter P., Plunkett, Gregory M., Gostel, Morgan R. & Frodin, David G., 2017, A synopsis of the Afro-Malagasy species previously included in Schefflera (Araliaceae): resurrection of the genera Astropanax and Neocussonia, Candollea 72 (2), pp. 265-282 : 272-273

A10. Astropanax polysciadus (Harms) Lowry, G.M. Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin , comb. nov.

÷ Schefflera polysciada Harms in Engl., Pflanzenw. Ost- Afrikas C: 297. 1895.

Lectotypus (designated here): TANZANIA. Tanga Region: über Kilema, 2000 m, II.1894, fl., Volkens 1877 ( K [ K00350400 ]!; isolecto-: BM [ BM001209174 ] image seen, G [ G00341679 ] image seen). = Schefflera bequaertii De Wild. in Rev. Zool. Bot. Africaines 8: 11. 1920 . Typus: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Prov. Nord-Kivu: Ruwenzori, Lanuri, 25.V.1914, bud & fl., Bequaert 4405 ( BR [ BR00886258 ]!) .

= Schefflera congesta De Wild. in Rev. Zool. Bot. Africaines 8: 12. 1920. Lectotypus (designated here): DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Prov. Nord-Kivu: Ruwenzori , Butagu, 2200-2600 m, 15.IV.1914, y. fr., Bequaert 3721 (BR [ BR00886263 ]!; isolecto-: BR [ BR00886259 ]!).

– Schefflera angiensis De Wild. in Rev. Zool. Bot. Africaines 9: 35. 1921 [nom. illeg.].

= Schefflera nyasensis De Wild. in Pl. Bequaert. 4: 348. 1928. Typus: T ANZANIA. Morogoro Region: Rungwe Mt., Mbaka River, y. fr., Stolz 1602 (holo-: BR [ BR00886260 ]!; iso-: BM [ BM00902771 , BM00902772 ] images seen; CAS!, K [ K00350401 , K00350402 , K00350403 , K00350404 , K00350405 ]!, P [ P00834314 ]!, UPS!, Z!).

Habitat and distribution. – Astropanax polysciadus is circumscribed here to include the continental African populations previously placed in Schefflera myriantha by recent authors ( BAMPS, 1974a, 1974b; BERNARDI, 1969; FRODIN & GOVAERTS, 2004), but which must be excluded from that species ( GOSTEL et al., 2017). Its range extends from Ethiopia south to Malawi ( BAMPS, 1974b; APD, 2017), where it occurs in a range of habitats including humid forest, bamboo thickets, woody ericoid formations and riverine or swampy forest at elevations between 1,600 and 3,400 m.

Notes. – The recognition of Astropanax polysciadus , like that of A. myrianthus , is based on a careful interpretation of total evidence from geographic and molecular data, which support their being treated as distinct taxa despite a lack of morphological diagnostic characteristics ( GOSTEL et al., 2017).

The original material on which Harms based his description of Schefflera polysciada was presumably deposited at Berlin and thus must have been destroyed, so we have selected the duplicate at K as the lectotype because it represents the most complete specimens among the known isotypes.

The type material of Schefflera congesta at BR comprises two specimens, one of which is fertile and bears the original label, and has therefore been selected as the lectotype.