Nothovernonia amblyolepis (Baker) H.Rob. & V.A.Funk, 2011

Robinson, Harold & Funk, Vicki A., 2011, A new genus, Nothovernonia, from tropical Africa (Asteraceae or Compositae, Vernonieae), PhytoKeys 3, pp. 21-34 : 26

Nothovernonia amblyolepis (Baker) H.Rob. & V.A.Funk comb. nov.

Vernonia amblyolepis Baker, Bull. Misc. Inf. Kew 1898: 146 (1898). Type: Malawi, Nyika Plateau, Whyte 204 (Lechtotype designated here, K, scanned image at US!), Mpata to Nyasa-Tanganyika Plateau, Whyte s.n. (isolectotype, K, scanned image at US!). The two specimens at K are labeled as syntypes. The Whyte 204 was selected as the lectotype because it is numbered.

Vernonia pratensis Hiern, Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. 1: 523 (1898) homonym illeg., non Klatt 1892 nec Drake 1897. Type: Angola, Welwitsch 3364 (isotype K).

Vernonia kandtii Muschl., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 46: 87 (1911). Type: Rwanda, Niansa, Kandt 69 (holotype B, destroyed, isotype EA).

Vernonia exasperata H. Wild, Kirkia 11: 12 (1978), nom. nov. for Vernonia pratensis Hiern.

Distribution.

The species is known from Angola, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Specimens Examined.

Malawi. Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, top of hillside above KuChawe Inn, on grassy slope, 15°20'S, 35°18'E, 5500 ft., 14 Apr 1984, Christenson 1461 (US). Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, on upper road from KuChawe Inn downward to Zomba, near horse paddock, 15°20'S, 35°18'E, 5000 ft., 25 Apr 1984, Christenson and Lipende 1488(US). Uganda. Buhweju County: District West Ankole, Nyarwambu River, 0°22'S, 30°28'E, 1550 m, 23 Aug 1982, Rwaburindora 919(MO, US).

Unrecognized taxa.

Jeffrey (1988) treated Vernonia kandtii as a separate species that included Veronia pratensis Hiern and V. exasperata H. Wild in its synonymy. Vernonia kandtii is separated by Jeffrey (1988), with some doubt, by his couplet 106 as follows:

The specimens from Malawi and Uganda that were examined for this study show variation in the structure of the inflorescence and therefore, do not support a separate species status for Vernonia kandtii .