Sciaphila ledermannii Engl.

Daniel, Thomas F., 2020, Notes on the Vascular Flora of the Island of Príncipe (São Tomé and Príncipe) in the Gulf of Guinea, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 66 (15), pp. 341-352 : 350-352

Sciaphila ledermannii Engl.

Príncipe: Ribeira Banzu to summit ridge of Pico Príncipe, 01°35ʹ25.7ʺN, 007°23ʹ01ʺE, 524 m, moist to wet evergreen forest, 28 IV 2013 (flr, frt), T . Daniel et al. 12084 ( CAS); trail between ruins of S . Carlos do Fundão and Ribeira Banzu , 01°35ʹ52.8ʺN, 007°23ʹ18.1ʺE, 199 m, moist to wet evergreen forest, 28 IV 2013 (flr, frt), T . Daniel et al. 12085; along trail from near ( SW of) Terreiro Velho to Morro de Leste , 01°35.843ʹN, 007°24.650ʹE, 400–500 m, moist lowland evergreen forest, 17 XI 2016 (flr, frt), T . Daniel et al. 12241 ( CAS) .

This species ( Fig. 3 ) was reported by Daniel (2010) as the first occurrence of Triuridaceae among the islands in the Gulf of Guinea and the first holosaprophyte (mycoheterotroph) in São Tomé and Príncipe. Subsequently, Figueiredo et al. (2011: 49) noted the occurrence on Príncipe of an unidentified species of Gymnosiphon Blume (Burmaniaceae), as a “colorless saprophyte.” The three collections for the bright red Sciaphila noted above add two additional watersheds (i.e., that drained by the Ribeira Banzu to the west and the Água da Ponte Grande to the east) to the two noted by Daniel (2010; i.e., regions drained by the Rio Papagaio to the northeast and the Ribeira São Tomé to the southwest, respectively) on Príncipe. More than 15 individuals were seen on a slope under a tree at the site of Daniel et al. 12084; more than 30 individuals were seen in open ground along a trail at the site of Daniel et al. 12085; and plants were infrequent in leaf litter in a flat, forested region at the site of Daniel et al. 12241. It is perhaps noteworthy that all of the collections noted above occur at higher elevations (up to 524 m) than those previously reported for collections on the island (i.e., up to 150 m; Daniel 2010). Sciaphila ledermannii , which otherwise only occurs in Cameroon and Nigeria on the African mainland (Cheek and Ndam 1996), is likely more common on Príncipe than the low number of collections suggests. The species remains unknown on all of the other islands in the Gulf of Guinea.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank Robert Drewes for organizing and coordinating the four expeditions to São Tomé & Príncipe on which I have collected and photographed vascular plants; the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe for permission to collect plants on the islands; co-collectors R. Drewes , C. Garcia , M. Nadel , J. Shevock , and A. Stanbridge ; photographers W. Eckerman , M. Nadel , A. Stanbridge , and R. Wenk ; and E. Figueiredo and C. Anderson for helpful reveiws . I also thank C. Feuillet for permitting use of his photo of Justicia secunda . I am especially grateful to Miko Nadel for procuring and photographing the two specimens of Sciaphila from the Ribeira Banzu watershed on his hike up the Pico Príncipe. Funding for travel and fieldwork associated with this study was provided by the California Academy of Sciences’ Gulf of Guinea Fund and Department of Botany. Additional logistic support on Príncipe was generously provided by Bom Bom Island Resort ( HBD) and Roça Belo Monte Plantation Hotel (Africa’s Eden) .

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Figures

FIGURE 3 Miscellaneous vascular plants. Psilotum nudum (top), fertile plants on base of coconut palm (Daniel & Shevock 12035). Sciaphila ledermannii (bottom left), fertile plant (Daniel et al. 12085, photo by M. Nadel). Sciaphila ledermannii (bottom center), fertile plant (Daniel et al. 12084, photo by M. Nadel). Justicia secunda (bottom right), inflorescence with flowers (photo and copyright: C. Feuillet, CC BY-NC, used with permission), taken in French Guiana.