Justicia lolioides var. latifolia, S. Moore

Darbyshire, I. & Goyder, D. J., 2019, Notes on Justicia sect. Monechma (Acanthaceae) in Angola, including two new species, Blumea 64 (2), pp. 97-107 : 105

b. var. latifolia S.Moore

Justicia lolioides var. latifolia S. Moore (1880) 310. — Type: Welwitsch 5099 (lecto BM [ BM000923675 ] chosen here; isolecto C* [C10000039], K [ K000378723 ],LD* [ LD1575500 ]), Angola, Malange ,Dist.Pungo Andongo, inter Quisonde et Condo, fl. & fr., Mar. 1857.

Distribution & Ecology — Justicia lolioides var. latifolia is endemic to Angola and is known only from the type specimen from Malange province, where it was recorded as growing in dense masses in somewhat dry wooded pastures with sparse herbage ( Hiern 1900).

Notes — Clarke (1900: 218) recorded this species as oc- curring in ‘Pungo Andongo and Huila’ but this is in error as the syntypes of var. lolioides (Welwitsch 5090, Welwitsch 5178) and the type of var. latifolia (Welwitsch 5099) are all from the Pungo Andongo region, and there are no further collections known. The foliage is rather variable in J. lolioides . The leaves of var. lolioides are linear as in J. cubangensis , but those of var. latifolia are oblong, up to 8 mm wide with a length: width ratio of ± 3.5–6: 1 and with pinnate venation.