Vitex fischeri var. keniensis (Turrill) Meerts, 2018

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 : 386-387

10b. Vitex fischeri var. keniensis (Turrill) Meerts ,

comb. nov.

Vitex keniensis Turrill, Diagnoses Africanae LXII: 47. 1915. ( Turrill 1915); Pieper (1928: 60); Moldenke (1956: 420); Verdcourt (1992: 58); ( Beentje 1994: 622); Lebrun & Stork (1997: 525).

– Type: British East Africa [ Kenya], 1500– 1800 m, Grant in herb. Battiscombe 846 (syn-: Kbarcodes K 000192779 & K 000192780; EA barcode EA 000001114) .

Distribution – Tropical E Africa from Kenya to Mozambique. V. fischeri var. keniensis is new to D.R. Congo, where it occurs in dense forests of Ituri region (Ituri, envitons de Nduye, NE de la Naitatu, Mont Balihata, rochers dans la forêt primaire, 1100 m, 12 Apr. 1977, Lisowski 43205 (POZG)).

Note – Verdcourt (1992: 52) wrote “Usually synonymized with V. fischeri , there is no doubt that it [ V. keniensis ] is a distinct taxon and Ithink worthy of specific rank”. Afew years later, Ahenda (1999) concluded that V. keniensis was not distinct. However, Ahenda’s evidence is unconvincing. In particular, this author does not appear to have examined pubescence pattern of leaf upper surface and ovary. Idid find two consistent differences between specimens from dense forests and from dry woodlands. The former has persistently puberulent leaf upper surface and ovary crowned by short stiff hairs, while the latter has glabrous leaf upper upper surface and ovary with glands (occasionally a few hairs) at top. These differences justify recognition of V. keniensis at varietal rank; the subspecific rank does not seem appropriate because the area of this taxon broadly overlaps with that of the type variety.