Trichanthecium delicatulum (Fig. & De Not.) Zuloaga

Zuloaga, Fernando Omar, Aliscioni, Sandra, Delfini, Carolina & Salariato, Diego Leonel, 2024, Old World species of Trichanthecium (Poaceae: Panicoideae: Paniceae) including a new species from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Phytotaxa 646 (3), pp. 230-264 : 243

5. Trichanthecium delicatulum (Fig. & De Not.) Zuloaga , comb. nov.

Panicum delicatulum Figari & De Notaris (1854: 351) .

Type:— SUDAN. “In Nubia superior ad flumen caeruleum”, Figari s.n. (not found, probably at TO) . Fig. 6

Panicum lepidum Hochstetter ex Chiovenda (1906: 61) .

Lectotype (here designated):— ETHIOPIA. “W. Schimper. Pl. Abyss. Ed. II Hohenack. (1852), n 2020”, prope Djeladjeranne, G. H. W. Schimper 2020 ( S05 -[8786] image!, isolectotypes GOET [006775] image!, JE [00006119] image!, LG [0000090035814] image!, LG [0000090035777] image!, M [0103984] image!, MPU [024437] image!, P [02251163!], P [002251164!], P [00442149!], S [ S05-8787 ] image!, TUB [006439] image!, TUB [006440] image!, W [19160019406!], W [18890236383!]).

Panicum figarianum Chiovenda (1917: 60) .

Type:—“ Abissinia: sotto gli..…. preso Djeladjeranne”, 1200–1500 m, G. H. W. Schimper 1840 (holotype FT?, not located).

Panicum caudiglume Stapf (1920: 727) , nom. illeg., non Hack., 1901. Panicum nyassense Napper (1963: 130) .

Type:— MOZAMBIQUE. Nyasaland District: Shire Highland, Namasi, May 1899, K. J. Cameron 16 (holotype K [000255519!]).

Annual, not tufted; culms geniculately ascending; slender; rooting and branching at the lower nodes, 10–30(–50) cm long; internodes cylindrical, hollow, hirsute, 3–8 cm long. Sheaths striate, 1–5 cm long, densely pilose with tuberculate trichomes, the margins long ciliate toward the apex, cilia ca. 2 mm long. Ligule membranous, 0.5 mm long, with long trichomes, up to 2 mm long, beneath at the base of the blade. Blades ovate-lanceolate, 3–8 × 0.4–1.2 cm, flat, narrowed at the base, the apex acuminate, densely to sparsely hairy, the margins scabrous. Inflorescence an open panicle 3–8 cm long; peduncle cylindrical, 5–8 cm long, glabrous; pulvini glabrous; main axis sparsely pilose, first-order branches alternate, divergent, axis of the branches hispid, spikelets solitary on first- and second-order branches, pedicels claviform, 1–3 mm long, glabrous. Spikelets narrowly ellipsoid, 2–2.5(–2.8) × 0.8–0.9 mm; lower glume 0.3–0.5 mm long, 1/6 to 1/4 the length of the spikelet, hispid, membranous, hyaline, obtuse, nerveless; upper glume as long as the spikelet, hispid, membranous, 3-nerved, aristate, awn up to 1 mm long; lower lemma glumiform, hispid, 3-nerved, acute; lower palea as long as the lower lemma, elliptic, hyaline, glabrous; lower flower staminate, anthers 3. Upper anthecium ovoid, 1.2–2 × 0.6–0.9 mm, shorter than the upper glume, indurate, pale, shiny. Caryopsis not seen.

Distribution and habitat: —East tropical Africa; present in forest margins, shade of boulders and rocky outcrops, at 1000–2400 m elevation.

Typification: —When describing this species, Chiovenda included the specimen Schimper 2020 without indicating a herbarium where the specimen is kept. Here, we designate a collection from S, [ S05-8786 ], as the lectotype since it agrees with the protologue and is a complete collection; isolectotypes are included from other herbaria.

The type specimen of Panicum figarianum could not be located at FT; in this herbarium there is a specimen labeled as type, FI [0001123!], collected by A. R. Delile, but is not part of the type gathering of this species. However, there is a specimen at TUB [006440!], Schimper s.n., which is an isotype of the species.

Note: —This species is characterized by the presence of a reduced lower glume and with the upper glume long acuminate.

Representative specimens examined: — MALAWI. Nyika Plateau , 11 April 1969, Pawek 2110 ( K) ; Ntchisi Mt. , 6 May 1963, Verboom 965 ( K) ; Nyasaland, slopes of Dedza, 27 March 1950, Wiehe N/465 ( K, US). TANZANIA. Sumbawanga District: Tatanda , 25 April 2006, Bidgood et al. 5701 ( P). Kigoma District: Tubira Forest , 26 April 1994, Bidgood & Vollesen 3185 ( K, P) ; Iringa Region, Mufindi District: Lake Ngwazi , 9 April 1986, Lovett & Bidgood 629 ( MO, US) ; Tilosa District: Ukaguru Mountains, Ihanga rock, 2 June 1978, Thulin & Mhoro 2856 ( C, K) ; on slopes of Mbeya Mountain near the small village of Iwala near Lunji Farm, Lovett & Kayombo 22 ( MO) ; Mshewe, Ihanga riverine forest, Lovett & Kayombo 211 ( MO) ; Mporoto Ridge, ca. 4 km NW of Igoma on NW slope of Mlima wa Bangi , 24 April 1989, Gereau et al. 3429 ( MO). ZAMBIA. Mbala , 14 April 1959, McCallum-Webster A319 ( K) .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Trichanthecium delicatulum. A. Habit. B. Ligular region. C. Detail of a branch of the inflorescence. D. Spikelet, ventral view. E. Spikelet, dorsal view. F. Spikelet, ventral view. G. Lower palea. H. Lower palea and staminate flower with anthers. I. Upper anthecium, dorsal view. J. Upper anthecium, ventral view. (Lovett & Bidgood 629 US).