Anisophyllea exellii P.A. Duvigneaud & Dewit (1950: 931)

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

20. Anisophyllea exellii P.A. Duvigneaud & Dewit (1950: 931) ( Figure 38 )

Type:— DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Katanga: Kamina , no date, Duvigneaud 1123 A (holotype? BR, not found). ANGOLA. Moxico: Teixeira de Sousa (Luau), 1100 m, 05 July 1940, M. J. Gossweiler 12232 (neotype LISC-002363!, here designated, isoneotypes LISC-002365!, LISC-002366!, LISC-002367!) .

Small trees 3–8 m tall, densely branched; bark with longitudinal grayish striae; young branches sparsely tomentose with tortuous hairs dark brown or slightly red, glabrescent with age; buds densely tomentose. Leaves dimorphic, small leaves caducous; large leaves petiolate, petiole 2–3 mm long, sparsely tomentose or glabrous; leaf blades obovate to elliptic, 8–12 cm long, 4–8 cm wide, base acute, rarely ±rounded, apex obtuse or shortly acuminate, coriaceous, lustrous adaxially, sparsely tomentose on both surfaces when young, glabrescent when mature; main longitudinal veins 5–7, two inner lateral veins merged with midrib to 2.6 cm above blade base before separated, outer two lateral veins starting from blade base or 0.3–0.8 cm from midrib above blade base, outermost two very fine, almost confluent with blade margins and sometimes disappearing into margins, slightly prominent adaxially and distinctly raised abaxially; transverse veins nearly parallel or irregular, at angles of 50–60° with midrib; veinlets reticulate, slightly prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence an axillary spike, mostly in axils of small leaves at base of the young branches, sometimes also in axils of large leaves; rachis ascending, to 15 cm long, tenuous, ca. 1 mm in diam., ±angular and fluted, crowded with uneven flowers; bracts linear, 2–3 mm long, margin pilose-ciliate, early deciduous, each often with 1 or 2 axillary flowers; flower buds sub-globose, to 2.5 mm long, 2 mm in diam.; rachis, bracts and flower buds all more densely tomentose than young branches. flowers bisexual (?), 4–5-merous, sessile; receptacle quadrangular, 0.6–1.5 mm long, densely tomentose at base; sepals1.0– 1.5 mm long, sparsely tomentose abaxially; petals 3-lobed distally, glabrous, papillose, lobes usually further laciniate and forming 5–7 threadlike laciniae down to middle of petals; stamens 8–10; styles 4–5(–8), free or slightly connate at base, pyriform and hairy, base clavate, distally attenuate, stigmas globose and papillose. Fruits unknown.

Flowering and fruiting: —Flowering around July; fruiting time unknown.

Habitat and distribution: —Jungles or clear forests; ca. 1100 m. Angola (Moxico); Democratic Republic of the Congo (Katanga) ( Figure 39 ).

Taxonomic notes: —When Anisophyllea exellii was described, it was compared with A. pomifera , from which it differed in its nature of indumentum and its shorter petiole and broader leaf blades ( Duvigneaud & Dewit 1950). However, we observed little difference of indumentum in young branches, buds, immature leaves, inflorescences, floral buds, and flowers between these two taxa. Anisophyllea exellii can be distinguished from A. pomifera in its ascending rachis of inflorescences, its linear but relatively longer bracts, and its smaller angles of the transverse veins with the mid rib. Its leaves are in general broader in width and shorter in petiole length than those of the latter species, but there is overlapping between the two species.

We could not locate the type material at BR ( P. Stoffelen, pers. comm.). The only specimens referable to Anisophyllea exellii we examined are the ones designated as neotype and isoneotypes here .

MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 59 60 • Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press

CHEN ET AL.

Figures

FIGURE 38. Anisophyllea exellii P.A.Duvigneaud & Dewit. Flowering branch (M. J. Gossweiler 12232; isoneotype, LISC-002365).

FIGURE 39. Geographical distribution of Anisophyllea exellii P.A.Duvigneaud & Dewit.