Vitex doniana Sweet

Meerts, Pierre, 2018, Synopsis of the genus Vitex (Lamiaceae) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Plant Ecology and Evolution 151 (3), pp. 380-392 : 385-386

8. Vitex doniana Sweet

( Sweet 1826: 323); Baker (1900: 323); Pieper (1928: 64); White (1962: 371); Huber et al. (1963: 446); Verdcourt (1992: 62); Pauwels (1993: 216); ( Beentje 1994: 622); Lebrun & Stork (1997: 524); van Wyk & van Wyk (1997: 476); Sales (2001: 192; 2005: 85); Coates Palgrave & Coates Palgrave (2005: 981); Latham & Konda ku Mbuta (2010: 326); Meerts & Hasson (2016: 335); Meerts (2016: 231).

– Type: Sierra Leone, Don s.n. (holo-: BM barcode BM 000839716) .

Vitex cuneata Thonn. ( Schumacher 1827: 289) ; Baker (1900: 328); De Wildeman (1926: 205; 1929a: 8; 1929b: 101); Pieper (1928: 71); Delevoy (1929: 478).

– Type: Guinea [ Ghana], Thonning 244 (holo-: Cbarcode C 10004694 ; iso-: Sbarcode S 10-29263, LE barcode LE 00016530) .

Vitex cienkowskii Kotschy & Peyr. ( Kotschy & Peyritsch 1867: t. 12); Durand & Durand (1909: 436); De Wildeman (1912a: 467; 1921: 164; 1926: 205); Delevoy (1931: 7).

– Type: South Sudan, ad Mischra Req prope Bahr Ghasal, Apr. 1863, von Heuglin 41 [sphalm. “43” in protologue] (lecto-: Wbarcode W 2004-0012683 designated by Cabral (2013) ; isolecto-: Wbarcodes W 2004-0012682, W 2004-0012684 & W 2004-0012681) .

? Vitex lundensis Gürke ( Gürke 1893: 168) ; Durand & Schinz (1896: 25); Baker (1900: 327); Durand & Durand (1909: 437); De Wildeman (1912b: 280); Pieper (1928: 73); Moldenke (1956: 448); Lebrun & Stork (1997: 525).

– Type: D.R. Congo, Lulua river, Lunda , 17 May 1892, Pogge 1260 ( B †) .

? Vitex poggei Gürke ( Gürke 1893: 168) ; Durand & Schinz (1896: 25); Baker (1900: 329); Durand & Durand (1909: 437); Pieper (1928: 73); Moldenke (1957: 80); Lebrun & Stork (1997: 525).

– Type: [Probably Angola], Lunda, Pogge 1255 (holo-: B, n.v.) .

Vitex dewevrei De Wild. & T.Durand ( Durand & De Wildeman 1899: 133); De Wildeman & Durand (1900: 50; 1901: 185); Baker (1900: 327); De Wildeman (1909: 128; 1912b: 91); Durand & Durand (1909: 437).

– Type: D.R. Congo, Bas-Congo, Lukungu, 31 Oct. 1895, Dewèvre 459 (lecto-: BR barcode BR0000008905475 designated by Cabral (2013) ; isolecto-: BR barcodes BR0000008905437 & BR0000008905482) .

Vitex homblei De Wild. ( De Wildeman 1914a: 142; 1914c: 404; 1921: 164).

– Type: D.R. Congo, Elisabethville [ Lubumbashi ], May 1912, Homblé 318 (lecto-: BR barcode BR0000005570850 designated by Cabral (2013) ; isolecto-: BR barcode BR0000005571185, BR0000005570867) .

A tree. Twigs fulvous to greyish puberulent. Leaves glabrous; leaflets 5, long petiolulate; lamina very coriaceous, shiny above, generally rounded at tip. Inflorescence of dichasia, generally much shorter than leaves; calyx 3–4 mm, shortly pubescent; ovary hairy; corolla whitish with bluish lower lip. Fruit c. 25 mm long.

Distribution – Widespread in tropical and subtropical Africa; Madagascar, Wof Indian Ocean.

Note – Very robust specimens of V. doniana with short inflorescence, occurring mostly in the rainforest region (e.g. Lejoly 4191 (BRLU), Dhetchuvi 1054 (BRLU)), resemble V. grandifolia , a species of Wtropical Africa, not recorded from D.R. Congo. Unlike V. grandifolia , V. doniana is never associated to ants; V. doniana has a pale blue corolla with white throat (vs. a yellowish-brown corolla with red throat in V. grandifolia ).

The type specimens of V. lundensis Gürke and V. poggei Gürke have not been seen, but the protologue and the subsequent descriptions based on the original material ( Baker 1900; Pieper 1928) leave little doubt that both taxa belong here.