Anisophyllea buchneri Engler & von Brehmer (1917: 371)

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

8. Anisophyllea buchneri Engler & von Brehmer (1917: 371)

Type:— ANGOLA. No specific province: Without locality, no date, Buchner s.n. (? B, not found) .

Shrub (?); young branches tenuous, ±angular and with longitudinal striae when dry, densely tomentose with dark-brown short hairs, only grey puberulence remaining when mature. Leaves dimorphic; small leaves caducous; large leaves petiolate, petiole 3–4 mm long, with grey or dark-brown puberulence; leaf blade oblong, 8–12 cm long, 3–4 cm wide, base acute, apex acute or ±obtuse, nearly coriaceous, tomentose with short and slightly dark-brown hairs on both surfaces when young, remaining hairy abaxially while glabrescent and lustrous adaxially when mature; main longitudinal veins 5, two inner lateral veins starting from midrib above blade base, other three lateral veins springing from blade base, outermost two veins very fine and close to blade margins, prominent on both surfaces, paler than diachyma adaxially; transverse veins parallel, at angles of 75–90° with midrib; veinlets reticulate, prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence an axillary spike, drooping; rachis densely tomentose with slightly dark-brown hairs, densely with flowers; bracts small, narrowly elliptic, apex acute, sub-glabrous adaxially, tomentose abaxially; flower buds ±globose, tomentose; flowers bisexual(?), 4–5-merous, sessile, receptacle ca. 2 mm; sepals broadly ovate, ca. 2 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, apex ±acuminate, glabrous adaxially, tomentose abaxially, margins short-ciliate; petals ovate, ca. 3 mm long, irregularly laciniate from middle, laciniae linear, slightly longer than sepals, apex obtuse, glabrous; stamens 8–10, shorter than petals, filament stout, ca. 1.5 mm long, base dilated; styles 4–5, free, ca. 2 m long, base conical, ca. 1 mm long, 0.5 mm in diam., shortly pilose, upward gradually attenuate and glabrous, stigmas ±thickened. Fruits unknown.

Flowering and fruiting: —Unknown.

Habitat and distribution: —In open forests or savannah woodlands (?); elevation unknown. Angola ( Figure 16 ).

MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 31

Taxonomic notes: — Anisophyllea buchneri is one of the least known species of the genus in tropical western Africa that might be a plant as shrub or small trees. It is similar to A. boehmii , from which it differs in its tenuous and drooping inflorescences and very short hairs on most parts of the plant ( Engler & von Brehmer 1917, Engler 1921). We did not find the only cited specimen, the type, at B. The description here was based on the protologue ( Engler & von Brehmer 1917). The difference between this species and another tropical western African species, A. gossweilleri , could not be determined except for the free styles throughout of A. buchneri . This species needs further study.

Figures

FIGURE 16. Geographical distribution of Anisophyllea buchneri Engler & von Brehmer.