Anisophyllea laurina R.Brown ex Sabine (1824: 446)

Chen, Xin, He, Hai & Zhang, Li-Bing, 2015, A monograph of the Anisophylleaceae (Cucurbitales) with description of 18 new species of Anisophyllea, Phytotaxa 229 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

35. Anisophyllea laurina R.Brown ex Sabine (1824: 446) ( Figure 68 )

Type :— SIERRA LEONE. Without locality, no date, G . Don s.n. (holotype BM-000902018!, photo of holotype MO!) .

MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 93 Trees to 15 m tall; young branches terete, densely pannose with brownish hairs lustrous and mostly to 0.12 mm long (some to 0.5 mm long), concurrently and less densely pubescent with erect or appressed hairs up to 0.8 mm long, glabrescent when mature; buds densely pannose. Leaves dimorphic, internodes between similar type of leaves 0.8–4.5 cm, between two adjacent different type leaves 0.3–1.2 cm; small leaves caducous, sessile, lanceolate, 5–11 mm long, 0.8–4.0 mm wide, base acute, apex acuminate, sparsely pannose on both surfaces, main veins 5–7,

94 • Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press

CHEN ET AL.

slightly impressed adaxially and prominent abaxially; large leaves petiolate, petiole to 4 mm long, 1.1–1.5 mm in diam., sparsely pannose when young, glabrescent when mature; leaf blade elliptical or broadly lanceolate, 9.5–11.0 cm long, 3–5 cm wide, base slightly oblique, acute, apex acuminate, margins often slightly revolute, thinly coriaceous, pannose on both surfaces when young, glabrescent with persisting indumentum only along main veins abaxially when mature; main longitudinal veins 5–7, springing from blade base, two innermost lateral veins often from midrib at 0.4–0.7 cm on one side and 0.9–1.3 cm on another side above blade base respectively, outer two lateral veins very fine and almost merged with blade margins, sometimes disappearing into blade margins distally, inner main veins slightly impressed adaxially and raised abaxially, outer lateral veins slightly prominent on both surfaces; transverse veins parallel, at angles of 60–80° with midrib, flat and obscure adaxially, slightly prominent abaxially; veinlets reticulate. Inflorescence an axillary spike, solitary; rachis ascending, to 13.5 cm long, 0.5–0.7 mm in diam., pannose with hairs to 0.12 mm long; bracts narrowly lanceolate, 1.3–3.0 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm wide, margins ciliate, pannose outside, each often with one supra-axillary flower, early deciduous; flower buds sub-globose, 1.4–1.6 mm in diam., 4-angular, slightly pannose; flowers polygamous or unisexual, 4–5-merous, female or bisexual flowers unknown; male flowers sessile, receptacle obovate, 0.8–1.0 mm long, densely pannose; sepals broadly ovate, 1.4–2.0 mm long, margins short-ciliate, glabrous adaxially, sparsely pannose abaxially; petals 2.0– 2.4 mm long, obovate at lower potion, ca. 0.4 mm wide at base, upper and widest portion to 0.8 mm wide, irregularly laciniate from middle, laciniae 5, middle one much longer than lateral ones, glabrous; stamens 8–10, free, slightly shorter than petals, to 1 mm long in equal length, anthers sub-globose, ca. 0.5 mm long, or epipetalous 4–5 abortive, ca. 0.5 mm long; disk lobed, shortly pubescent with white hairs ca. 0.016 mm long; pistil rudimentary, ovary densely pannose with brown hairs to 0.1 mm long, styles 4–5, free, clavate, ca. 0.3 mm long, 0.12 mm wide at base, glabrous. Fruit a drupe, ovate, to 3.5 cm long, 2.5 cm in diam., or rarely much bigger, base obtuse, apex attenuate.

Flowering and fruiting: —January–May.

Habitat and distribution: —In mountainous forests or woodlands; 170– 400 m. SW Cameroon; Gabon (Woleu-Ntem); Guinea (Boké, Kankan);? Senegal ; Sierra Leone (e.g., Western Area Rurual) ( Figure 69 ) .

MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 95

Vernacular names and local usage: — Monkey apple. Fruits edible.

Taxonomic notes: — Anisophyllea laurina is the first species published in the genus and is the type of the genus ( Sabine 1824, King 1897). The same plant was also named as “ Anisophyllum laurinum G. Don ”, which was also based on the unnumbered specimen collected by G. Don from Sierra Leone ( Hooker & Bentham 1849). Owing to its earliest publication and was for a long time the only available species name of the western African plants in the genus, its circumscription had been broadly applied and may include A. fissipetala , A. obtusifolia , A. pomifera , and A. strychnoides ( Engler & von Brehmer 1917, Hutchinson & Dalziel 1954). Its difference with other species is discussed following the descriptions of those species. It had been considered having styles very strongly broadened at base and distally attenuate ( Engler 1921), but we did not examine the female or bisexual flowers. Its exact distribution in Sierra Leone could not be located from the herbarium specimens available to us, though it was reported being much common in the west of Bo ( Odell et al. 1974) and around Freetown ( Oliver 1871). We could not clarify the identity of the plant cited by Oliver (1871) collected by Leprieur from Senegambia and thus it is doubtful whether this species occurs in Senegal or adjacent areas as assumed by Hutchinson & Dalziel (1927). Partial description follows Burkhill (1985).

We found only one sheet of the gathering collected by G. Don from Sierra Leone deposited at BM corresponding to the description of this species. This should be the holotype .

Additional specimens examined: — CAMEROON. Southwest: Takamanda F. R ., near Matene, 170 m, 21–25 March 1985, D. W . Thomas 4522 ( MO) . GABON. Woleu-Ntem: Mbe National Park, Monts de Cristal. Tchimbele Dam area. South-facing slope (3–5º incline), closed canopy forest with Uapaca guinensis, Dichostemma glaucescens , and Santiria trimera, Plot 1, 00°37’02”N 010°24’49”E, 400 m, April 2004, Simab 010225 ( MO) . GUINEA. Boké: Rio Nunez, 1838, Hendelot 645 ( K); 1913, Mowan s.n. ( L). Kankan : Francaise , 21 Sep. 1907, Kommi 1446 ( P). Unlocated region : Koutouya, vers le km 36, 22 March 1993, L . Ake ASSI 18.828 ( MO) . SIERRA LEONE. District can not be located: Hjala, 06 May 1948, F. C . Deighton 4760 ( P); Bathuset village , 25 January 1927, D. J . Dalzcil 8087 ( US); without locality, 25 July 1896, Scott-Elliot G. F . 4154 ( P); 21 January 1927, D. Fairchild s.n. ( US); without locality, no date, F. C . Deighton 1049 ( K); F. C . Deighton 3955 ( K) .

Figures

FIGURE 68. Anisophyllea laurina R. Brown ex Sabine. Flowering and leafy branches (G. Don s.n.; holotype, BM-000902018).

FIGURE 69. Geographical distribution of Anisophyllea laurina R. Brown ex Sabine.