Anisophyllea dichostila Engler & von Brehmer (1917: 374)

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

17. Anisophyllea dichostila Engler & von Brehmer (1917: 374)

Type :— ANGOLA. Province unknown, bei Mukendsche, 14 Oct. 1881, Pogge 919 (holotype B, not found) .

Small shrubs to 30 cm tall; branches tenuous, terete, pilose with brown hairs when young, ±tomentose with grayish short hairs or glabrescent when mature. Leaves dimorphic, small leaves sessile, obovate, base acute to broadly acute, apex ±acuminate, glabrous on both surfaces, or ±tomentose at base abaxially, main lateral veins 3, starting from midrib above blade base, meeting blade at apex, distinctly prominent on both sides; large leaves petiolate, petiole 3–5 mm long, tomentose with brown hairs; leaf blade broadly lanceolate or elliptic, 6–8 cm long, 2–3 cm wide, base usually oblique and acute, apex acute or acuminate, or rarely obtuse, sub-coriaceous, rusty-tomentose when young, glabrous on both surfaces when mature, ±lustrous adaxially; main longitudinal veins 5, springing from blade base or merged with midrib some distance above blade base, distinctly prominent on both surfaces, pilose abaxially; transverse veins irregular; veinlets numerous, irregularly reticulate, prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence a supra-axillary spike, ascending, tenuous; rachis to 5 cm long, densely rusty-tomentose, crowded with numerous flowers; bracts small and linear, to 1 mm long, apex acute, pilose abaxially; flower buds globose, to 1 mm long, ca. 1 cm in diam. (or a little thicker), rusty-tomentose; flowers bisexual(?), usually 4-merous, rarely 5- merous sessile; sepals narrowly ovate, to 3 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm wide, apex acute, pilose abaxially; petals obovate, to 4 mm long, 1.25 mm wide, base narrowed, distally irregularly laciniate from middle or rarely lower, with laciniae ±linear; stamens 8(–10), filament to 2.5 mm long, base dilated, ca. 0.3 mm wide, gradually attenuate distally, anthers larger, broadly ovate, ca. 0.5 mm long; disk 8(–10)-lobed, crenulate; styles 4(–5), free, to 2 mm long, base clavate, 0.5–0.6 mm in diam., distally attenuate, pilose, stigma small. Fruits unknown.

Flowering and fruiting: —Flowering in October; fruiting time unknown.

Habitat and distribution: —?Scrubland; elevation unknown. Angola ( Figure 33 ).

Taxonomic notes: —Since its publication by Engler & von Brehmer (1917), Anisophyllea dichostila has been expanded to include A. brachystila Engler & von Brehmer , A. buettneri Engler , and A. poggei Engler ex De Wildeman & T. Durand by Duvigneau & Dewit (1950). Owing to the missing type, we leave this species among

MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 51 other species lacking material for further clarification. This species can also be confused with A. fruticulosa Engler & Gilg , but the latter has basal connate styles. The type locality of this species could not be located. According to Engler (1921), its distribution is in Mukendsche, Angola, which might be the area of Mukenge now in southwestern Katagan province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the adjacent regions of eastern Angola (in the provinces of either Lunda Sul or Moxico) .

Figures

FIGURE 33. Geographical distribution of Anisophyllea dichostila Engler & von Brehmer.