Mischogyne elliotiana (Engl. & Diels) Le Thomas (1969: 285)

Gosline, George, Marshall, Andrew R. & Larridon, Isabel, 2019, Revision and new species of the African genus Mischogyne (Annonaceae), Kew Bulletin 74 (28), pp. 1-23 : 9-10

2. Mischogyne elliotiana (Engl. & Diels) Le Thomas (1969: 285) ;

Hawthorne & Jongkind (2006). Uoariastrum elliotianum (Engl. & Diels) Sprague & Hutch. ( Sprague & Hutchinson 1916: 159) , ( Keay 1952), ( Keay et al. 1952); ( Hutchinson et al. 1958);

( Aubréville 1959); (Keay et al. 1964). Uoaria elliotiana Engl. & Diels in Engler (1901: 28) . Type: Sierra Leone, Talla Hills, Duunia, Mount Gonkwi, 1892, Scott-Elliot 4855 (lectotype, designated by Turner (2013): K! [K000198794], isolectotype B* [B 10 0153004]). Uoariopsis cheoalieri Robyns & Ghesq. ( Robyns &

Ghesquiere 1933). Type: Nigeria, Lokomedji

(Lagos) [Olokemeji], July 1905, Cheoalier 14069

(holotype P* [ P01960205 ]).

Shrub or small tree up to 4 – 7 (– 10) m tall with slender arching habit, trunk cylindrical, up to 12 cm in diam.; old branches glabrous; young branches glabrous to sparsely pubescent rapidly glabrescent, hairs 0.1 – 0.3 mm long, appressed, brown. Bark blackish-green, finely rugose, pustulate; slash yellowish-white, fibrous, strongly scented, “smells like green tomatoes” (Nimba Botanic Team 974). Petioles 3 – 6 mm long, 1 – 2 mm in diam., with sparse to dense indumentum of hairs 0.2 – 0.8 m long. Leaf lamina obovate to narrowly elliptic, 8 – 25 cm long, 2.5 – 12 cm wide, length:width ratio 2 – 3, apex acute to attenuate to acuminate, base rounded to acuminate to attenuate, chartaceous to coriaceous, glabrous or with white hairs below on younger leaves ( var. sericea ), glossy green above when fresh, drying matte, brown to olive, concolorous or lighter below; midrib glabescent above and below to densely pubescent ( var. sericea ); secondary veins 7 – 12, secondary nerves ascending at 30° – 45° angle to midrib to 25 – 30% of the leaf length before anastomosing. Floaeers 1 (– 2?). Flower buds ovoid, 0.8 – 1.5 cm long, 0.5 – 1 cm in diam., apex obtuse. ( Fig. 2A ). No bracts seen. Flowering pedicel 1 – 1.5 cm long, 0.5 – 1 mm in diam., pubescent, hairs 0.1 – 0.3 mm long, appressed, light brown. Sepals oblong lanceolate, 0.9 – 1.6 cm long, 0.5 – 0.7 cm wide, length:width ratio 2 – 3, apex acute, base rounded, densely pubescent outside, same as on pedicel, tomentose inside; light green when fresh, light brown in herbarium material. Petals narrowly ovate, 1.5 – 2 cm long, 0.5 cm wide, length:width ratio 3 – 3.5, apex acute, base truncate, reflexed at anthesis, outer surface densely pubescent, hairs 0.2 – 0.5 mm long, appressed, light brown, inner surface tomentose becoming glabrous, white when fresh, dark brown in herbarium material. Torus columnar, 0.8 – 3 mm. long, 1 – 1.5 mm diam., densely pubescent. Stamens 20 – 40, 1.2 – 2 mm long, 0.5 – 0.8 mm wide; filament rudimentary, connective visible as a line of hairs between thecae with extension absent or less than 0.1 mm long, terminating in a tuft of hairs 0.1 – 0.2 mm long. Carpels ellipsoid, 6 – 12, 4.5 – 5 mm long, 1.5 – 2 mm in diam., densely pubescent, hairs 0.8 – 1 mm long, stiff, semi-erect appressed upwards, stigma on a short style 0.4 – 0.9 mm long, 0.1 mm in diam., stigma bilobed, 0.6 – 1 mm long and wide, glabrous, yellow drying black. Ovules c. 20 in two series. Fruits with a single mature monocarp in specimens seen. Monocarp 4 – 10 cm long, 1.5 – 6 cm in diam., ovoid or slightly constricted around seeds, dense indumentum of erect brown to white hairs 0.08 – 0.1 mm long, greenish-yellow to yellow; stipe 1.5 cm long 0.5 cm diam.

DISTRIBUTION. Guinea-Bissau to Nigeria ( Map 1 ).

HABITAT. Riverine in wet evergreen forests and gallery forests, especially coastal forests ( Ivory Coast). In secondary forest in Guinea.

CONSERVATION STATUS. IUCN assessed as LC ( Rokni 2016).

PHENOLOGY. Flowering in February – May, November. Fruiting April – November.

ETYMOLOGY. Named for the collector Prof. George Francis Scott Elliot from Kew who collected the type while attached to the Sierra Leone Boundary Commission expedition in 1892.

VERNACULAR NAME. None recorded.

USES. var. sericea : “The old leaves lose their hairs and become hard, and are used for cleaning caps and other cloth articles.” (Deighton 510).

NOTES. This species is widespread in West Africa where precipitation exceeds 1000 mm pa. It grows in a variety of forest habitats. Keay (1952) described three varieties. We have been unable to find any consistent difference between his var. glabrum and the nominate variety. The two remaining varieties are described below.

Key to varieties of Mischogyne elliotiana

Young leaf blades glabrous, secondary nerves 6 – 9; acumen 5 – 15% length of leaf......... M. elliotiana var. elliotiana

Young leaf blades with sparse indumentum of sericeous white hairs below, secondary nerves 9 – 12, acumen 20 – 25% length of leaf.................................................... M. elliotiana var. sericea

Figures

Map 1. Distribution of all species of Mischogyne.

Fig. 2. Flower buds of Mischogyne species. A M. elliotiana var. elliotiana with old flower showing carpels below (Dalziel 761 [K000874259]); B M. michelioides showing large terminal bud (Gossweiler 9379 [K000196792]); C M. congensis (Evrard 5376 [BR0000015312655]); D M. gabonensis buds showing capsule and rupturing at anthesis (Le Testu 1768 [WAG0247284]).