Monanthotaxis elegans (Engl. & Diels) Verdc.
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/10.3767/blumea.2021.66.02.01 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/565E87CB-FFA5-F97A-B350-3DD4A0802951 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Monanthotaxis elegans (Engl. & Diels) Verdc. |
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24. Monanthotaxis elegans (Engl. & Diels) Verdc. View in CoL — Fig. 5j–p View Fig ; Map 16 View Map 16
Monanthotaxis elegans (Engl. & Diels) Verdc.(1971b) 25. — Unona elegans Engl. in Engl. & Diels (1899) 296, nom. illeg., non Thwaites in Thwaites & Hooker (1864) 398. — Popowia elegans Engl. & Diels (1901) 45. — Type: G.A. Zenker 1321 (holo B100153023; iso BM000553832, BM000553833, E00181437, G00308366, HBG-502506, K000198990, K000198991, M-0198713,P00362605,P00362606), Cameroon,South Province,Bipinde, 23 Mar. 1897.
Shrub, to 4 m tall; young branches reddish brown to blackish brown, densely covered with appressed to ascending, reddish brown hairs 0.1–0.2 mm long, becoming glabrous; old branches blackish brown to dark greyish brown. Leaves: petiole 2.5–5 mm long, 0.9–1.3 mm diam, slightly grooved, indument as on branches; lamina narrowly oblong-elliptic, slightly oblanceolate or rarely obovate, (4.6–)9–15.4 by 2.3–4.6 cm, (2–)2.9–5.5 times longer than wide, chartaceous, not punctate, medium green above, glaucous below, above covered with appressed, yellowish hairs 0.1–0.2 mm long, below sparsely covered with appressed, white to yellow hairs 0.1–0.2 mm long, base rounded to narrowly subcordate, with slightly thickened dark brown margin, apex acute to acuminate, acumen to 30 mm long, secondary veins 11–14 per side, straight, but curving halfway, tertiary venation percurrent, slightly visible above. Inflorescences extra-axillary or terminal, composed of 1–8-flowered, glomerule-like rhipidia; sympodial rachis 1.5–4 mm long, indument as on branches; pedicels 1.2–2 mm long, 0.6–0.7 mm diam, fruiting pedicels 3.5–5 mm long, 1–1.2 mm diam, densely covered with appressed, yellowish hairs 0.1–0.2 mm long; lower bracts ovate, 0.6–0.9 by c. 0.4 mm, indument as on rachis; upper bract in lower half or halfway up the pedicel, ovate, 0.5–0.8 by c. 0.3 mm, indument as on pedicel; flower buds ovoid. Flowers bisexual; sepals free, broadly triangular-ovate, 1.1–1.4 by 1.2–1.5 mm, apex acute, densely covered with appressed hairs, persistent in fruit; receptacle c. 2 mm diam, flat; petals creamy yellow, 6, in two whorls outer petals broadly ovate, 2.6–4.3 by 2.6–3.5 mm, outside densely covered with yellow-brown hairs, inside glabrous except for few hairs near the apex and margins, inner petals rhombic, c. 3.5 by 1.9 mm, centre and base of the outside covered with yellow hairs, inside glabrous, except for few hairs at the apex; stamens 9, in one whorl, free, linear-oblong, c. 0.9 mm long, filaments c. 0.4 mm long, thecae latrorse, connective truncate, prolonged inward and outward, not hiding thecae, glabrous, staminodes 6, alternating with the stamens, but not in front of the inner petals, 0.1–0.2 mm long, glabrous; carpels 12–20, narrowly ellipsoid, c. 1.1 by 0.3 mm, densely hairy, ovules 1 (or 2), basal, stigma globose, c. 0.2 mm diam, glabrous. Monocarps 2–8, colour unknown in vivo, ellipsoid to narrowly ellipsoid, 9–16 by 5–5.5 mm, slightly verrucose, sparsely covered with appressed, yellow-brown hairs, becoming glabrous, apex apiculate, apiculum 0.2–0.3 mm long, stipes 1.5–2 mm long. Seeds 1 or 2, ellipsoid, 6.7–9.4 by 4.6–5.5 mm, ochre-brown, apex rounded, raphe visible.
Distribution — Cameroon (Central Region, South Region).
Habitat & Ecology — In primary and gallery forest; once on an open rocky spot on sandy soil.Altitude: 200– 400 m. Flowering: March, June, July; fruiting: March.
Preliminary IUCN conservation status — Endangered (EN): B2ab(iii). EOO: 2 259 km 2, AOO: 16 km 2. This species is known from 10 collections from 3 locations, all outside protected areas and the last collection dated from more than 50 years ago.
Notes — 1. Monanthotaxis elegans can easily be recognized by the mostly oblong-lanceolate leaves and extra-axillary or terminal glomerule-like inflorescences with yellow-brown indument.
2. E. Annet 348 is aberrant in having obovate instead of the typical oblong-lanceolate leaves, but the inflorescence and flowers are identical to M. elegans .
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.