Trichoscypha smythei Hutch. & Dalz.

Breteler, F. J., 2001, The genus Trichoscypha (Anacardiaceae) in Upper Guinea: A synoptic revision, Adansonia (3) 23 (2), pp. 247-264 : 263-264

14. Trichoscypha smythei Hutch. & Dalz.

Fl. West Trop. Afr., ed. 1, 1: 508 (1928); Kew Bull. 1929: 28 (1929); Keay in Hutch. & Dalz., Fl. West Trop. Afr., ed. 2, 1: 736 (1958), partly (see Notes).

— Type: Unwin & Smythe 33, Sierra Leone, Picket Hill , ♂ fl. Dec. (holo-, K).

Trichoscypha smeathmannii Keay, Bull. Jard. Bot. Brux. 26: 205, fig. 63 (1956); Keay in Hutch. & Dalz., Fl. West Trop. Afr., ed. 2, 1: 736 (1958). — Type: Smeathmann s.n., s.loc. ♂ fl. — (holo-, P-LA; iso-, BM, G).

Shrub or small tree up to 15 m tall, trunk to 20 cm in diam. Leaves (2-)3-6(-7)-jugate; leaflets papery to coriaceous, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 2.5-4(-4.5) times as long as wide, (6-)8- 17(-27) × 2.5-5(-7) cm, shortly cuneate to rounded at base, gradually acuminate, lateral nerves often rather indistinct, c. 8-12 pairs; midrib impressed above, glabrous or nearly so. Inflorescence (sub)terminal, more rarely borne below the leaves. Flowers (Sep.-Dec.) usually pedicellate, the female ones distinctly so, white, fragrant. Fruits (Jan.-Mar.) glabrous or nearly so. — Figs. 1 M-N, 10.

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION. — Rain forest or gallery forest up to 1,400 m altitude, from Guinea to Ghana. Not recorded from Côte d’Ivoire.

SELECTED SPECIMENS. — GHANA: Vigne 3496, Adamsu, ♂ fl. Dec. ( P). — GUINEA: Chevalier 12443, Timbo, Fouta Djalon, fr. Mar. ( P); 14753, Kouria ♂ fl. (K, P); Chillou 1846, Friguiagbé, fr. Feb. (P); Schnell 3836, Mts. Nimba, fl. b. Oct. ( P). — LIBERIA: Adames 820, Mts. Nimba, ♀ fl. Dec. ( K); Bos 2569, Zorzor, ♂ fl. Dec. ( WAG); Jansen 2250, Bendu , ♀ fl. Nov. ( P, WAG); van Meer 202, Gola Nat. For. ♂ fl. Oct. ( K, WAG). — SIERRA LEONE: Deighton 1412, Njala, ♂ fl. Oct. ( K); 3616, Mange, fr. Feb. (K); King 64 B, Kasawe, ♀ fl. Dec. ( K); Thomas 3278, Bumbuna ♂ fl. Oct., ( B, K); Unwin & Smythe 33, Picket Hill, ♂ fl. Dec. ( K), type .

NOTES. — KEAY (1958) included in T. smythei Linder 1329 , the type of the new species T. linderi . In his key to the species he used a character of this specimen, viz. that the inflorescence is born below the leaves. This feature, however, is not shown by the type (Unwin & Smythe 33), nor is it mentioned by HUTCHINSON & DALZIEL, the authors of T. smythei . KEAY in fact misinterpreted the identity of this specimen and as a consequence proposed T. smeathmannii as a new name for Brucea paniculata Lam. , for which T. smythei was in fact available, and did not recognize that Linder 1329 represented a new species.

Trichoscypha linderi is very different from T. smythei , not only by its cauliflorous habit, which occasionally occurs in the latter as well, but especially by its very different leaves and larger male flowers with a cupular disc.

Trichoscypha smythei is very closely related to T. lucens . I have refrained from uniting them in particular for the lack of fruiting specimens. The disc and the ovary vary from completely glabrous or with a few sparse hairs, as represented by T. smythei , to densely velutinous as in T. lucens . The scarce available fruiting material can be classified in the same way, i.e. with glabrous or nearly glabrous fruits in T. smythei and with densely velutinous fruits in T. lucens . More fruiting material, especially from Côte d’Ivoire, is needed to decide whether T. smythei can be maintained as a distinct species.

Figures

Fig. 1. — Flowers of Trichoscypha species, one petal removed: A-B, T. arborea (A. Chev) A. Chev.; C-D, T. baldwinii Keay; E-F, T. bijuga Engl.; G, T. cavalliensis Aubrév. & Pellegr.; H-I, T. liberica Engl.; J, T. longifolia (Hook. f.) Engl.; K-L, T. lucens Oliv.; M-N, T. smythei Hutch. & Dalz. (A, de Wilde 311, B, van der Burg 766; C, van Meer 11; D, Adam 25718; E, Stoop - van de Kasteele 210; F, Beentje 889; G, Leeuwenberg & Voorhoeve 4938; H, Jansen 2151; I, Voorhoeve 452; J, Vogel 160; K, de Koning 3909; L, Beentje 875; M, Chevalier 18792; N, Jansen 2250). Drawing by H. DE VRIES.