Vitex mombassae Vatke, 1882

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 : 388

12. Vitex mombassae Vatke

( Vatke 1882: 533); Baker (1900: 326); De Wildeman (1903a: 121; 1912b: 367; 1921: 165; 1929b: 106); Durand & Durand (1909: 437); Pieper (1928: 66); Delevoy (1929: 484); White (1962: 371); Verdcourt (1992: 64); ( Beentje 1994: 623); Bredenkamp & Botha (1996: 146); Lebrun & Stork (1997: 525); van Wyk & van Wyk (1997: 476); Sales (2001: 197; 2005: 87); Smith & Allen (2004: 82); Coates Palgrave & Coates Palgrave (2005: 983); Meerts & Hasson (2016: 337); Meerts (2016: 231).

– Type: “[ Kenya] [Prope] Mombassa [in ora zanzibarensi], Jan. 1876, Hildebrandt 1972 (lecto-: BM barcode BM000839709 designated by Cabral (2013) ; isolecto-: K barcode K000192785, Wbarcode W 0008469) .

Vitex mufutu De Wild. ( De Wildeman 1914a: 142; 1914c: 406; 1921: 165).

– Type: D.R. Congo, Haut-Katanga, Etoile du Congo, Dec. 1911, Hock s.n. (holo-: BR barcode BR 0000008905451) .

Ashrub or a small tree. Young twigs orange to fulvous tomentose. Leaflets 3–5, petiolule 0(–5) mm; lamina obtuse to rounded at tip, pubescent on both surfaces. Inflorescence of dichasia, few flowered, branches yellowish pubescent; calyx 4–7 mm, yellowish woolly tomentose, corolla cream, mauve tinged, 10–20 mm, stamens very long protruding; ovary hairy; fruit c. 35 mm long.

Distribution – Eand S Africa, from Kenya southwards to South Africa and westwards to D.R. Congo.