Xylopia toussaintii Boutique, Bull. Jard. Bot. Etat 21: 111-112. 1951.

Johnson, David M. & Murray, Nancy A., 2018, A revision of Xylopia L. (Annonaceae): the species of Tropical Africa, PhytoKeys 97, pp. 1-252 : 114-115

24. Xylopia toussaintii Boutique, Bull. Jard. Bot. Etat 21: 111-112. 1951.

Type.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO ["Belgian Congo "]. Kongo Central Province, Mayumbe, Luki , vallé de la N’kula, May 1948, L. Toussaint 373 (holotype: BR!; isotypes: BM! [000511058], BR! [0000008825483], K! [000199052], P! [00169123, 00169124]) .

Description.

Tree up to 30 m tall (shrub 6 m tall- Gossweiler 9151), d.b.h. up to 30 cm, bole up to 14 m high, secondary branches forming a broad round crown; bark finely fissured. Twigs brown, eventually gray to brown, smooth, spreading-pubescent, the hairs 0.2-0.5 mm long, eventually gray to brown, glabrate; nodes occasionally with two axillary branches. Leaf with larger blades 4.1-9.1 cm long, 1.9-2.9 cm wide, chartaceous, concolorous or slightly discolorous, oblong or lanceolate-oblong, sometimes ovate, apex acute to rounded, base rounded, densely short-pubescent on midrib but otherwise glabrate adaxially, uniformly pubescent abaxially; midrib plane adaxially, raised abaxially, secondary veins indistinctly brochidodromous, 7-11 per side, diverging at 45-70° from the midrib, slightly raised on both surfaces, higher-order veins slightly raised to indistinct on both surfaces; petiole 2-3.2 mm long, shallowly canaliculate, pubescent. Inflorescences axillary or from the axils of fallen leaves, 1-3-flowered, pubescent; peduncle 1 per axil, ca. 0.5 mm long; pedicels up to 3 per peduncle, 1.9-3.3 mm long, 0.5-0.8 mm thick; bracts 2, lower attached near pedicel midpoint and upper subtending sepals, caducous or less often persistent, 2.4-3.6 mm long, ovate to broadly ovate, apex obtuse to rounded; buds linear-lanceolate, apex acuminate. Sepals spreading or slightly reflexed at anthesis, 1/10-connate, 1.3-2.2 mm long, 1.9-2.3 mm wide, coriaceous, broadly ovate to semicircular, apex obtuse to acute, pubescent abaxially. Petals yellowish to olive in vivo, outer petals more or less erect at anthesis, 8.7-11.8 mm long, 2.4-2.9 mm wide at base, 0.6-1 mm wide at midpoint, fleshy, linear-lanceolate, apex more or less acute, pubescent on both surfaces except for the glabrous adaxial base; inner petals probably spreading at anthesis, 6.4-10.3 mm long, 1.9-2.2 mm wide at base, 0.5-0.8 mm wide at midpoint, fleshy, linear-subulate, apex acute, base with margin differentiated into two circular to oblong glands ca. 0.4 wide, pubescent except for the glabrous concavity adaxially, pubescent abaxially. Stamens 75-80; fertile stamens 0.9-1.0 mm long, oblong, apex of connective ca. 0.2 mm long, shieldlike, overhanging the anther thecae, glabrous, anthers 7-8-locellate, filament 0.2-0.3 mm long; outer staminodes 0.8-1.1 mm long, oblong to clavate, apex obtuse to truncate; inner staminodes 0.5-0.8 mm long, oblong to clavate, apex rounded to truncate; staminal cone 0.9-1.1 mm in diameter, 0.4-0.8 mm high, concealing only the bases of the ovaries, rim laciniate. Carpels 3-5; ovaries 0.8-1 mm long, narrowly oblong, pubescent, stigmas loosely connivent, 1.9-2.2 mm long, linear, glabrous except for an apical tuft of hairs. Torus flat, 1.0-1.3 mm in diameter. Fruit of up to 4 sparsely pubescent monocarps borne on a pedicel 5-7.3 mm long, 2.4-3.4 mm thick, sparsely pubescent; torus 4.5-5.7 mm in diameter, 2.5-3.7 mm high, depressed-globose. Monocarps with a green, sometimes red-tinged, exterior in vivo, endocarp color unknown, 2.8-3.9 cm long, 1-1.3 cm wide, 0.9-1.1 cm thick, oblong to clavate, irregularly torulose, apex irregularly obtuse to truncate, base contracted into a stipe 5-9 mm long, 2.3-3.6 mm thick, obliquely wrinkled, verrucose; pericarp 0.6-1.6 mm thick. Seeds up to 6 per monocarp, in a single row, oblique to long axis, 8.5-9.5 mm long, 5.0-6.5 mm wide, 3.7-4.5 mm thick, ellipsoid to flattened-ellipsoid, elliptic to wedge-shaped in cross-section, truncate at micropylar end, rounded at chalazal end, reddish brown to brown, smooth, dull or slightly shiny, raphe/antiraphe not evident, micropylar scar 1.8-2.0 mm long, 1.7-2.1 mm wide, obovate, elliptic, or circular; sarcotesta orange to red-orange in vivo; aril absent.

Phenology.

Specimens with flowers have been collected from April to June, and with fruits from May, August to October, and December.

Distribution

(Fig. 24 ). Occurs near the mouth of the Congo River in Angola, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo in forest bordering savanna and other xerophytic forest types at low elevations.

Local name.

Lucangua (Toussaint 373, 2451).

Additional specimens examined.

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Région de Pointe-Noire, Pointe-Indienne , 1 Jun 1966 (fl), Sita 1232 (P) . DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Kongo Central: Luki , 18 Oct 1948 (fr), Donis 2065 (K, P); Prov. Léopoldville, Territ. Boma, Luki, Mar 1959 (buds), Mahieu 290 (K); Mayumbe, Luki, 2 Dec 1946 (fr), Toussaint 2068 (K, MO, P, PRE); Luki, 3 Apr 1947 (fl), Toussaint 2241 (K, MO, P); Luki, vallée de la Mikindu, 4 Sep 1947 (fr), Toussaint 2451 (BR, K, MO, P); Prov. Leopoldville, Territ. Boma, Station a la Mbola, border of savanna and dry forest, 30 Aug 1957 (fr), Wagemans 1696 (K) . ANGOLA. Sumba, Peco , 1 May 1923 (fl), Gossweiler 8741 (BM-2 sheets, K, US), Sumba, Peco, May 1926 (fl, fr), Gossweiler 9151 (BM, MO, US) .

A poorly known species similar to Xylopia gilbertii , X. toussaintii differs most notably in its longer flowers with proportionately narrower petals. Xylopia toussaintii occurs in an area of strongly seasonal rainfall and corresponding semi-evergreen vegetation ( Couralet 2010). We calculated an EOO of 6,766 km 2 and an AOO of 16 km 2 for Xylopia toussaintii .

Figures

Figure 24. Distributions of Xylopia gilbertii, X. toussaintii, and X. flamignii. Bolder lines represent country borders, fainter lines lakes and major rivers.