Monodora carolinae Couvreur, 2006

Couvreur, Thomas L. P., Gereau, Roy E., Wieringa, Jan J. & Richardson, James E., 2006, Description of four new species of Monodora and Isolona (Annonaceae) from Tanzania and an overview of Tanzanian Annonaceae diversity, Adansonia (3) 28 (2), pp. 243-266 : 247-248

Monodora carolinae Couvreur , sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 )

Verdcourt, Flora of Tropical East Africa: 122 (1971) as Monodora sp. A .

Haec species inter congeneros quoad flores solitarios, petala externa margine undulata etiam interna unguiculata ad apicem conniventia ad Monodoram angolensem Welw. maxime accedit, sed ab ea petalis externis reflexis rectis atque bracteis cupuliformibus distinguitur.

TYPUS. — Tanzania. Pwani Region, Rufiji Distr., Matumbi Hills, Kiwengoma Forest , 08°08’34”S, 38°59’56”E, 18.X.1997, fl., Phillipson 4940 (holo-, C!; iso-, P!, MO!) .

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Tanzania. Lindi Region, Lindi Rural Distr., Mchinjiri, Rondo Plateau , 10°10’S, 39°15’E, alt. 82 m, XI.1951, fl., Eggeling 6406 (FHO!, K!, S!) .

Pwani (Coast) Region, Rufiji Distr., Kiwengoma Forest , 8°19’06”S, 38°56’54”E, alt. 375 m, 19.X.1997, fl., Phillipson 4946 (C!, MO!) .

Mozambique. Cabo Delgado Province, Mueda Plateau, Pt 509, 11°23’S, 39°22’E, alt. 790 m, 12.XII. 2003, fl., Luke 10054 (EA!, K!, LMA, MO!, NHT) .

HABITAT. — Coastal thicket, at 50-800 m altitude, on deep leached sandy soils.

DISTRIBUTION. — Known in coastal Tanzania and northern Mozambique ( Fig. 5 ).

DESCRIPTION

Tree or shrub c. 6 m tall; bark grey, striated with white lenticels; young branchlets drying black, glabrous or sometimes sparsely pubescent all over but soon glabrescent. Petiole c. 4 mm long, glabrous, with a groove above; leaf blade coriaceous, oblanceolate, 8-10 × 4-6 cm, acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, usually glabrous, sometimes pubescent in younger leaves; midrib prominent below, sunken above; 9 to 11 pairs of secondary veins, anastomosing c. 5 mm from the margin; tertiary venation intermediate between percurrent and reticulate.

Flowers solitary and axillary, pendulous, flowering before or during leaf flush; pedicel slender, 15-35 mm long, glabrous; bract inserted in upper half of pedicel, 4-6 × 6-9 mm, auriculate-clasping, acute at apex, cup-shaped, green, glabrous, the margins non-undulate and densely white-ciliate. Sepals triangular, 6-12 × 4-8 mm, rounded at apex, red-brown, the margins entire and densely white-ciliate; outer petals narrowly ovate, reflexed when fully opened, 15-25 × 6-12 mm, acute at apex, undulate, creamy with red spots on both sides, glabrous, sometimes very sparsely ciliate along margins; inner petals clawed, the claw widening into lamina, 3-5 × 2-4 mm at base, cream, the lamina transversely elliptic, 6-15 × 6-14 mm, slightly acuminate at apex, creamy streaked with red and yellow, densely ciliate-manicate around upper margins, the apices connivent over receptacle; stamens c. 0.8 mm long, glabrous, the connective appendages c. 0.1 mm long; ovary 1-2 mm long with a glabrous stigma.

Fruit unknown.

Pollen: tetrad acalymmate, tetragonal sub-square shaped, monads coherent. Size at longest axis:tetrad, 58-64 µm; monad, 32-48 µm. Tectum structure: psilate, coarsely fossulate-perforate; perforations round to oval,> 0.5 µm in diam. ( Fig. 7A, B ).

ETYMOLOGY

Monodora carolinae Couvreur is named after Carolina, wife of the first author.

Figures

FIG. 1. — Monodora carolinae Couvreur: A, flowering branch; B, leaf; C, mature flower; D, detail of inner petal (inside view); E, androecium and gynoecium (stigma missing); F, stamen. Drawing by Wil Wessel-Brand. Scale bars: A-C, 1 cm; D-F, 1 mm.

FIG. 5. — Distribution of the new species of Monodora in Tanzania and Mozambique. Symbols: grey patches, land above 1400 m; ■, M. carolinae Couvreur;●, M. globiflora Couvreur;▲, M. hastipetala Couvreur.

FIG. 7. — SEM of pollen grains and tectum structure: A, B, Monodora carolinae Couvreur; C, D, M. globiflora Couvreur; E, F, M. hastipetala Couvreur; G, H, Isolona hexaloba Engl. & Diels from Ivory Coast; I, J, Isolona linearis Couvreur. A, B, Phillipson 4940 (C); C, D, Luke 3136 (MO); E, F, Phillipson 4958 (MO); G, H, de Wilde et al. 839 (WALKB, WAG); I, J, Frimodt-Møller et al. TZ59 (C). Scale bars: A, C, E, G, I, 10 µm; B, D, F, H, J, 1 µm.