Xylopia pynaertii De Wildeman, Ann. Mus. Congo, Ser . 5, Bot. 3: 79. 1909.

Johnson, David M. & Murray, Nancy A., 2018, A revision of Xylopia L. (Annonaceae): the species of Tropical Africa, PhytoKeys 97, pp. 1-252 : 165-167

40. Xylopia pynaertii De Wildeman, Ann. Mus. Congo, Ser. 5, Bot. 3: 79. 1909. Fig. 42A-B

Type.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO ["Belgian Congo "]. Équateur Province, Eala , 15 Oct 1906, L. A. E. J. Pynaert 567 (lectotype, here designated: BR!; isolectotypes: BR! [0000008825339, 0000008825346]) .

Description.

Tree up to 35 m tall, d.b.h. up to 40 cm, bole forming buttresses ca. 0.5 m high and extending up to 50 cm from the trunk at the base; upper bark red, rough, scaly. Twigs brown to dark brown, pubescent, hairs 0.4-1.5 mm long, at length light brownish gray, glabrate, bark somewhat exfoliating on older twigs; nodes occasionally with two axillary branches. Leaf with larger blades 3.6-8.7 cm long, 1.2-2.3 cm wide, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, discolorous or occasionally concolorous, lanceolate, ovate, or elliptic, apex obtuse to acute, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, glabrous except for the pubescent midrib adaxially, sparsely but uniformly appressed-pubescent abaxially; midrib slightly impressed adaxially, raised abaxially, secondary veins indistinctly brochidodromous, 8-13 per side, diverging at 60-70° from the midrib, these and higher-order veins indistinct adaxially, slightly raised abaxially; petiole 1-2.5 mm long, shallowly canaliculate to semi-terete, pubescent. Inflorescences axillary, 1-2-flowered, pubescent; peduncle 1 per axil, 0.5-0.8 mm long, or absent; pedicels 2 per peduncle, 4-5.4 mm long, ca. 0.9 mm thick; bracts 2, evenly spaced along pedicel, persistent or caducous, 1-1.4 mm long, semicircular, apex rounded; buds linear-lanceolate, sometimes slightly falcate, apex acute. Sepals slightly spreading to spreading at anthesis, 1/4-1/2 connate, 1.5-2.7 mm long, 2.1-2.4 mm wide, coriaceous, ovate to triangular, apex acute, pubescent abaxially. Petals yellowish white in vivo; outer petals slightly spreading at anthesis, 15.2-20.5 mm long, 2.4-3.0 mm wide at base, 1.0-1.5 mm wide at midpoint, coriaceous, linear, apex acute to obtuse, densely puberulent but becoming glabrous in the medial region toward the base adaxially, yellow-brown sericeous except for glabrous base abaxially; inner petals with position at anthesis uncertain, 12.3-16.8 mm long, 2.2-3.2 mm wide at base, 0.7-1.1 mm wide at midpoint, coriaceous, linear, apex acute, densely puberulent on both surfaces except for glabrous base. Stamens ca. 140; fertile stamens 0.8-1.3 mm long, oblong, apex of connective 0.1-0.3 mm long, shieldlike, overhanging anther thecae, minutely papillate, anther locules 4-9-locellate, filament 0.2-0.5 mm long; outer staminodes 1.1-1.3 mm long, oblong, apex obtuse to obliquely truncate; inner staminodes ca. 0.9 mm long, oblong, apex truncate; staminal cone 1.7-1.9 mm in diameter, 0.7-0.9 mm high, concealing all but the apices of the ovaries, rim laciniate. Carpels 9-11; ovaries ca. 1.1 mm long, narrowly oblong, pubescent, stigmas connivent, 2.5-3.8 mm long, linear, glabrous except for tuft of hairs at apex. Torus flat, 1.8-2.1 mm in diameter. Fruit of up to 8 glabrate monocarps borne on a pedicel 3.2-24 mm long, 2.3-3.4 mm thick, the pedicel occasionally adnate to a short dead branch, sparsely pubescent; torus 5.5-14 mm in diameter, 3.7-7 mm high, irregularly globose. Monocarps with green exterior and red endocarp in vivo, 2.6-4.8 cm long, 1.3-1.8 cm wide and thick, oblong to obovoid, apex rounded, base contracted into a stipe 1.5-8 mm long, 3.5-6 mm thick, or monocarp sessile, longitudinally ridged, slightly and obliquely wrinkled, verrucose; pericarp 0.2-1 mm thick, fibrous. Seeds 5-6 per monocarp, in two rows, lying perpendicular to long axis, 9.3-13.1 mm long, 6.2-8.8 mm wide, 4.2-6.7 mm thick, ellipsoid, wedge-shaped or flattened-ellipsoid in cross-section, obliquely truncate at micropylar end, rounded at chalazal end, brown, smooth, dull or slightly shiny, raphe/antiraphe not evident, micropylar scar 3-4.9 mm long, 1.5-4.6 mm wide, roughly circular or transversely elliptic; sarcotesta white to grayish blue in vivo, sometimes visible as a white crust on dried seeds; aril absent.

Phenology.

The collections with flowers are from March, October, and November, and with fruits from April, May, October, and December.

Distribution

(Fig. 47 ). Occurs from southeastern Nigeria to central Democratic Republic of the Congo and south to southern Republic of the Congo, where it grows in primary rainforest and semi-deciduous forest at elevations of 20-200 m.

Local names.

Bolonge (Boki, Catterall 51), n’tana (Fang, Le Thomas 23).

Additional specimens examined.

NIGERIA. Ikom, Cross River, Okwangwo , 16 Nov 1934 (fl), Catterall 51 (K); Ikom, Cross River, 500', 21 Dec 1934 (fr), Catterall 61 (K) . CAMEROON. Pout-Kelle 20 km N of Eseka, 9 Dec 1973 (fr), Letouzey 12317 (K, P) . GABON. Estuaire: N’Loulounga, 50 km E of Libreville, 5 Jul 1966 (fr), Le Thomas 23 (P).- Nyanga: Chantier CEB, ca. 50 km SW of Doussala, 2°36'S, 10°35'E, 14 Jun 1985 (st), Reitsma & Reitsma 1156 (NY, WAG); Chantier CEB, ca. 50 km SW of Doussala, 2°36'S, 10°35'E, 16 Oct 1985 (fl), Reitsma & Reitsma 1621 (MO, NY, RSA, WAG).- Ogooué-Ivindo: réserve de la Lopé, au sud d’Ayem, chantier SOFORGA, 0°25'S, 11°30'E, 29 Mar 1989 (fl), McPherson 13825 (BR, MO, PRE).- Ogooué-Maritime: Rabi area , NE Divangui, 40 m, 1°54.1'S, 10°02.3'E, 2 Oct 1994 (fr), Wieringa & Nzabi 2831 (WAG) . REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Environs du carrefour de N’Dindi, sur la route N’Tiétié, 12 May 1974 (fr), Sita 3766 (P) . DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Équateur: Route Ingende-Bokatola , km 13, 9 Apr 1959 (fr), Evrard 6059 (BR).-Tshuapa: Prov Équateur, Territ Bokungu, Bokota, 2 Apr 1959 (fr), Evrard 5666 (K) .

Xylopia pynaertii is a poorly known species, but readily distinguished from other central African Xylopia species by the scaly bright reddish brown upper bark, dense indument of the young twigs and abaxial leaf surfaces, small leaves, and short wide monocarps with seeds in two rows. Where noted, the red bark is a particularly useful character: Keay (1954-1958) listed the two Catterall collections as an "Imperfectly known species," but quoted label descriptions "with red upper bark" that led to their correct identification. There is variation in the nature of the indument: collections with flowers have a mixture of long (>1.0 mm) and short hairs (ca. 0.5 mm long), while those with fruits had hairs that often appeared abraded and were never over 0.8 mm in length. The flowers of McPherson 13825 were described as having a ginger fragrance.

While Xylopia pynaertii has a relatively wide distribution, the species is either rare or undercollected. We calculated an EOO of 582,432 km 2, but an AOO of only 40 km 2. In the Rabi 25-ha plot in southern Gabon, however, a total of 544 individuals were tabulated ( Memiaghe et al. 2016), indicating that the plant may be locally common.

The protologue for Xylopia pynaertii mentions two collections, Pynaert 567, a collection with flowers made on 15 Oct 1906, and Pynaert 1353, a collection with fruits made in May 1907. The former was cited as the type by Le Thomas (1969) without elaboration. We have not seen the latter specimen, but, because the description pertains mostly to the flowering collection, Pynaert 567 is formally designated here as the lectotype.

Figures

Figure 42. Xylopia pynaertii, X. mildbraedii, and X. hypolampra. A, B X. pynaertii A Habit B Fruit C, D X. mildbraedii C Fruit D Habit E, F X. hypolampra E Habit F Fruit. A from McPherson 13825 (MO) B from Letouzey 12317 (P) C from Breteler et al. 12632 (WAG) D from Reitsma & Reitsma 2816 (NY) E from Le Testu 2023 (F) F from Le Testu 8094 (BM).

Figure 47. Distribution of Xylopia pynaertii. Bolder lines represent country borders, fainter lines lakes and major rivers.