Anisophyllea gossweileri Engler & von Brehmer (1917: 375)

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

28. Anisophyllea gossweileri Engler & von Brehmer (1917: 375) ( Figure 54 )

Type:— ANGOLA. Malanje: Loanda, May–Agust 1903–1904, M. J. Gossweiler 1395 (lectotype K-000350181!, here designated, isolectotypes? B, BM-000902020!, K-000350182!, P-00374864!, P-00374865!) .

Homotypic synonym:— Anisophyllea tomentosa Rolfe (1919: 263) . Type:— ANGOLA. Malanje: Loanda , May–Agust 1903–1904, M. J. Gossweiler 1395 (lectotype K-000350181!, here designated, isolectotypes BM-000902020!, K-000350182!, P-00374864!, P-00374865!) .

Shrubs or small trees, to? 1.8 m high; young branches brown and longitudinally striate, densely tomentose with rusty short tortuous hairs ca. 0.3 mm long and thickly matted, indumentum turning grayish or glabrescent when mature; buds densely tomentose. Leaves dimorphic, small leaves caducous; large leaves petiolate, petiole 2–4 mm long, 1.2–2.0 mm in diam., tomentose; leaf blade 5–8 cm long, 1.5–3.5 cm wide, broadly lanceolate to ovate, base oblique, acute or obtuse, apex acute or acuminate, margins often slightly revolute; ±coriaceous, densely tomentose when young, glabrescent adaxially and thinly tomentose abaxially when mature; main longitudinal veins 5–7(–9), midrib straight with 4 inner lateral veins starting from midrib above blade base and curved, all reaching apex, outer veins springing from blade base or a little bit higher, reaching blade apex or nearly confluent with blade margins, outmost two veins (when 9 main veins present) usually disappearing at lower portion of blade margins, all veins slightly prominent adaxially and distinctly raised abaxially, paler than diachyma; transverse veins irregular, slightly prominent on both surfaces; veinlets reticulate, not prominent. Inflorescence an axillary spike, mostly in axils of caducous small leaves on lower part of young branches, rarely in axils of large leaves; rachis ascending, robust, to

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10 cm long, densely with flowers; bracts linear, to 2.5 mm long, apex subulate, margin pilose-ciliate, each often with one axillary flower; flower buds globose, to 1.2 mm in diam.; rachis, bracts and flower buds all densely tomentose; flowers bisexual (?), 4-merous, sessile, densely tomentose outside; receptacle to 1.5 mm long, same in diam.; sepals broadly ovate, to 1.5 mm long, 2 mm wide at the base, apex broadly acute, margins ciliate; petals broadly obovate, to 3 mm long, 2 mm wide, irregularly laciniate to middle or further lower, laciniae 5; stamens 8, filaments to 1.25 mm long, base ±dilated, upward gradually attenuate anthers plump, larger than filaments, ca. 1/3 as filaments in length; disk 8-lobed, crenulate; styles 4, to 1 mm long, base conical, connate to ca. 2/3 above base, upward free, shortly tomentose, stigma short, thickened. Fruit a drupe, narrowly obovoid or ovoid, ca. 2.5 cm long, 1.2–1.5 cm in diam., base ±attenuate, apex with persistent floral parts, sparsely with short pubescence.

Flowering and fruiting: —May–August or lasting longer.

Habitat and distribution: — Tropical jungles; ca. 1500 m. Angola (Humbo, Lunda Sul, Malanje); Democratic Republic of the Congo (Bandundu, Katanga) ( Figure 55 ) .

Vernacular names and local usage: — Lohengo. Fruits edible.

Taxonomic notes: — Anisophyllea gossweileri was described to be related to A. fruticulosa in the proximally connate styles, but it differs from the latter by its narrower and longer bracts and larger anthers, as well as different types of hairs on calyx and infructescences ( Engler & von Brehmer 1917). We did not examine the size of anthers of A. fruticulosa and could not compare the difference in the indumentum coverage for these two species though we understood that this species has very dense short hairs on sepals (abaxial surface) and inflorescences ( Engler 1921). In addition, plants of this species are shrubs or small trees, and it was also reported to be a tree of 9–18 m high and with trunks 30–60 cm in diam. ( Exell 1928), while plants of A. fruticulosa are rhizomatous short shrubs to ca. 30 cm high. More material needs to be examined to verify their separation.

There are several duplicates of the collection M. J. Gossweiler 1395 deposited at different herbaria as cited above. We select the one at K as the lectotype of Anisophyllea gossweileri . We only examined two of the four syntypes cited in the protologue of A. tomentosa ( Anonymus 1919) . Here we designate the same sheet of M. J. Gossweiler 1395 at K as its lectotype, which makes A. tomentosa a homotypic synonym of A. gossweileri .

Additional specimens examined: — ANGOLA. Humbo: Benguella, Bailundo, 1530 m, 1906, F . C . Wellman s.n. (K-000350184); Cacorda, May 1937, M . A . Powell 77 ( MO). Lunda Sul: Saurimo, Xerofila (Mussengue) forest near Chicapa, 03 April 1927, Carrisso et Mendonca 474 ( MO) . DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Bandundu: Kahemba, Leopoldville, July 1955, Devred 2253 ( K, L) .

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Figures

FIGURE 54. Anisophyllea gossweileri Engler & von Brehmer. —A. Flowering and leafy branches (F. C. Wellman s.n.; one of syntypes of A. tomentosa Rolfe, K-000350184). —B. Fruit (Artist unknown; reproduced and modified from Engler in Engler & Drude (eds.), Die Vegetation der Erde-Sammlung Pflanzengeographischer Monographien 9(3/2): 676: M. 1921).

FIGURE 55. Geographical distribution of Anisophyllea gossweileri Engler & von Brehmer.