Sabdariffa berberidifolia (A.Rich.) Mwachala & R.L.Barrett, 2025

Barrett, Russell L., Yoshikawa, Vania Nobuko, McLay, Todd G. B., Duarte, Marília Cristina, Mwachala, Geoffrey & Hanes, Margaret M., 2025, Reinstatement of Sabdariffa and new combinations to support a monophyletic concept of Hibiscus (Malvaceae: Hibisceae), Australian Systematic Botany 38 (3), pp. 1-97 : 30-31

Sabdariffa berberidifolia (A.Rich.) Mwachala & R.L.Barrett , comb. nov.

( Fig. 10 a, b .)

Hibiscus berberidifolius A.Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 56 (1847). Type citation: ‘Crescit prope Sankka, in provincia Hedjou (Ant. Petit).’ Type: Abyssinia [ Ethiopia]: Sanka Berr , L. R.Quartin Dillon & A.Petit 119 (lecto, designated by F. D.Wilson, Brittonia 35: 175 (1983): P 00151946 ; isolecto: BR 0000006247713 (fragm.)) .

Hibiscus diversifolius var. witteanus Hochr. in W. Robyns , Bull. Jard. Bot . État 18: 276 (1947). Type citation: ‘ CONGO BELGE: DISTRICT DES LACS ÉDOUARD ET KIVU: … Tshamugussa, alt. 2500 m., étage des Bambous, fleurs rose violacé, août 1934, G. de Witte 1817* (typus).’ Type: Belgian Congo [Democratic Republic of The Congo]: Tshamugatta, 9 Aug. 1934, G. de Witte 1817 (syn: BR 0000008952356 , BR 0000008952769 , G 00014202 (3 sheets); G 00014721 (2 sheets)).

Hibiscus parvilobus F.D.Wilson, Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. London, Bot . 29(1): 67 (1999). Type: Kenya: Rift Valley Prov., Nakuru District, ~ 9 km NE of Londiani , 2743 m, 8 Feb. 1973, R.W. Spjut & P . D.Ensor 3184 (holo: EA; iso: BR 0000005299447 , K 000240691 ) .

Descriptions and illustrations

Richard (1847, p. 56); Hauman (1963, pp. 112–113); Maquet (1983, p. 383, fig. 121, 2a, b), Wilson (1983, pp. 175–179, fig. 1), Wilson (1999, pp. 61–62, 67, fig. 2a); Mwachala (2009, pp. 46–47).

Typification

There are two collections of Hibiscus diversifolius var. witteanus by de Witte at G but Robyns (1947) clarifies that only de Witte 1817 is the type number. de Witte 1320 (BR; G 00014202) is cited by Robyns (1947) but is not a type, in contrast to the citation by Wilson (1983, p. 175) and followed by Mwachala (2009, p. 47). Wilson (1983) may have presumed that the statement ‘typus’ applied to both collections cited but we interpret this as applying only to de Witte 1817.

Notes

We follow Mwachala (2009, p. 47) in including Hibiscus parvilobus as a synonym of S. berberidifolia . The type collection appears to differ in the distinctly petiolate leaves that are often somewhat lobed and less prominently toothed at the apex and in a sparser stem indumentum. However, additional collections from near the type locality are currently available at EA and these characteristics are now known to intergrade with those of typical S. berberidifolia .

Distribution

Democratic Republic of The Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Figures

Fig. 10. (a, b) Sabdariffa berberidifolia. Photographs by (a, b) Mike Plagens, iNaturalist: 9563139, CC BY-NC. (c, d) Sabdariffa bifurcata. Photographs by Andre Benedito, iNaturalist: 147298687, ©. (e, f) Sabdariffa brackenridgei subsp. brackenridgei. Photographs by Kathryn Akamine, iNaturalist: 83585479, CC BY-NC.