Anisophyllea meniaudi Aubréville & Pellegrin (1937: 704)

Chen, Xin, He, Hai & Zhang, Li-Bing, 2015, A monograph of the Anisophylleaceae (Cucurbitales) with description of 18 new species of Anisophyllea, Phytotaxa 229 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

41. Anisophyllea meniaudi Aubréville & Pellegrin (1937: 704) ( Figure 80 )

Type:— CÔTE D’IVOIRE. Lagunes: Djibi, December 1932, Service Forestier C. d’Ivoire 1719 (lectotype P-00374870!, here designated, isolectotype P-00374871!) .

Trees to 20 m tall, 50 cm in diam.; young branches densely hirsute with reddish-brown hairs erect and lustrous, up to 1.5 mm long, and also densely manicate with interwoven pubescence ca. 0.25 mm long, glabrescent when mature; buds densely pilose with brownish hairs lustrous, to 0.5 mm long. Leaves dimorphic, internodes between similar types of leaves 1.5–4.0 cm, between two adjacent different types of leaves 3–12 mm; small leaves caducous, sessile, lanceolate, to 9 mm long, 3 mm wide, base acute, apex acuminate, slightly pilose on both surfaces, main veins 5, obscure; large leaves petiolate, petiole 4–6 mm long, to 1.4 mm in diam., sparsely pilose with hairs to 0.6 mm long and also manicate, or glabrescent; leaf blade lanceolate, 8–13 cm long, 4–6 cm wide, base slightly oblique, obtuse to round, rarely acute, apex acute, margin often slightly revolute, coriaceous, shortly pilose with appressed hairs on both surfaces when young, glabrescent when mature; main longitudinal veins 5–7, springing from blade base, or with two inner lateral veins merged with midrib at lower portion to 0.6 cm above blade base before separated, outermost two veins very fine, only 1–2 mm from margins at base and distally almost confluent with blade margins and often disappearing into blade margins if 6–7 main veins present, inner veins impressed adaxially and distinctly raised abaxially, outermost lateral veins slightly prominent on both surfaces; transverse veins sparse, sub-parallel or irregular, usually at angles of 40–50° with midrib; veinlets reticulate, slightly prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence a supra-axillary spike, ascending, solitary or with branches at base; rachis to 12 cm long, 0.6–1.2 mm in diam., manicate with yellowish hairs ca. 0.16 mm long; bracts lanceolate, 1.2–3.0 mm long, ca. 0.6 mm wide, apex acute, margins short-ciliate, sparsely manicate, each often with one axillary flower, early deciduous; flower buds sub-globose, 4-angular, to 1.2 mm long, 0.8 mm in diam., manicate; flowers polygamous or unisexual (female or bisexual flowers unknown); Male flowers 4-merous, sessile, sepals valvate, obtuse, to 2 mm long, glabrous adaxially, manicate abaxially, margins short-ciliate; petals to 3.5 mm long, base broad, irregularly laciniate from middle, laciniae 6–8, threadlike, each resembling a filament and ending in a globose white anther-like swelling, glabrous; stamens 8, 3–4 mm long, filaments fleshy, proximally thickened and compressed, ca. 0.25 mm wide at base, glabrous, anthers sub-globose, ca. 0.3 mm long; disk lobed, glabrous; pistil rudimentary, styles 4, short, free, glabrous. Fruit a drupe, sub-globose, 2.5–3.0 cm long, ca. 2 cm in diam., calyx persistent, remnants of styles connate, glabrous.

Flowering and fruiting: —December–March.

Habitat and distribution: —In forests; below 500– 700 m. Angola (Lunda Norte); Cameroon; Republic of the Congo (Pool) ; Côte d’Ivoire (Lagunes); Guinea (Kankan) ; Liberia (Grand Gedeh) ( Figure 81 ) .

Vernacular names: — Arélié.

Taxonomic notes: — Anisophyllea meniaudi is similar to A. laurina in shoots and leaves, and it is also close to A. pomifera in the form of fruits ( Aubréville & Pellegrin 1937). As pointed out by Aubréville & Pellegrin (1937), it could be distinguished from these two species in its much higher and larger trunks, its glabrous bracts and relatively less hairy (at least not tomentose) floral buds and inflorescences, and its obtuse apices of sepals and its threadlike laciniae of petals with glandular swellings. As observed by Hutchinson & Dalziel (1954), the young branches of this species are covered by much longer hairs than those of A. laurina . Our observation found sepals of this species are more or less manicate on abaxial surface rather than absolutely glabrous.

We found two duplicates of the type specimen at P and here designate one of them as the lectotype.

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MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

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Additional specimens examined: — ANGOLA. Lunda Norte: Dundo , 700 m, 15 October 1946, P . A. Gossweileri 13.708 ( K, US) . Cameroon. No specific Administrative division, without locality, no date, collector unknown 7545 ( K) . REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Pool: Forilde La Djomouna, 22 Km W Brazzaville, 15 March 1976, Cusset 347 ( P) . CÔTE D’IVOIRE. Lagunes: Djibi, December 1932, Service Forestier C . d’Ivoire 880 ( K) . GUINEA. Kankan: Kalaba, Mt. Loma-Peromkoro , 500 m, 11 February 1966, J. G . Adam 23666 ( MO); 25 Feb. 1949, Jacques Georges 3847 ( MO) . LIBERIA. Grand Gedh: Tchien, Latico , 17 June 1970, Jacques-Georges 25941 ( MO) .

Figures

FIGURE 80. Anisophyllea meniaudi Aubréville & Pellegrin. —A. Leafy branch. —B. Inflorescence. —C. Male flower. —D. Petal. —E. Stamen. —F. Fruit and persistent flower parts. —G. Floral sketch (A. Aubréville; reproduced and modified from Aubréville & Pellegrin in Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France 83: 704–706, f. 1. 1937).

FIGURE 81. Geographical distribution of Anisophyllea meniaudi Aubréville & Pellegrin.