Dracaena camerooniana Baker

Damen, T. H. J., Burg, W. J. van der, Wiland-Szymańska, J. & Sosef, M. S. M., 2018, Taxonomic novelties in African Dracaena (Dracaenaceae), Blumea 63 (1), pp. 31-53 : 36

6. Dracaena camerooniana Baker — Map 6

Dracaena camerooniana Baker (1874) 166. — Type: Mann 1204 (holo K ( K000255899 );iso GH,K,P,S, U), Cameroon, Cameroon Mount , Jan.1862.

Dracaena oddonii De Wild. (1906) 227. — Type: Oddon in Gillet 3333 (holo BR ( BR0000008807397 ); iso BR ( BR0000008807380 )), Democratic Re- public of the Congo, Janda, 1903, syn. nov.

Dracaena silvatica Hua (1897) 665. — Type: Thollon 4074 (holo P ( P00442299 ); iso WAG ( WAG0184575 )), Republic of the Congo, Brazzaville , May 1891.

Distribution — Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia.

Notes — Dracaena oddonii was described from a plant with larger leaves and a longer petiole than the typical D. camerooniana . We do not recognise this form as a distinct taxon, because leaf shape within D. camerooniana is highly variable and both leaf forms can occur even on the same plant (Damen, pers. obs.).

Dracaena silvatica was described from a plant with much smaller flowers than typical D. camerooniana . This ecotype has been observed several times in the wild and grows in deep shade and inundated forest where the flowers and fruits are often poorly developed or even malformed (Damen, pers. obs.). It is regarded as a phenotype not worthy of a distinct taxonomic rank.

Figures

Map 6 Distribution of Dracaena camerooniana Baker.