Clerodendrum buettneri Gürke (1893: 174)

Meerts, Pierre, 2023, The genus Clerodendrum (Lamiaceae) in the flora of Central Africa (D. R. Congo, Rwanda, Burundi), Phytotaxa 594 (1), pp. 1-42 : 8-9

5. Clerodendrum buettneri Gürke (1893: 174) ; Baker (1900: 302); De Wildeman (1920b: 165; 1922: 258); Thomas (1936: 61); Huber (1963: 442); Moldenke (1985e: 353); Lebrun & Stork (1997: 510); Pollard (2022: 22).

Type:— GABON. Environs de Libreville , 1896, Klaine 297 (neotype designated here: P03894497 ) .

A liana. Stem up to 1 cm diam., twigs somewhat quadrangular, villose, with patent pale brown to fulvous hairs, up to 5 mm long, and short papilliform hairs; petiolar spines up to 3 mm. Leaf: petiole 1.0–5.0 cm, unequal, villose; lamina ovate 4.5–12.5 × 3–8 cm, base rounded to subcordate, apex acuminate, hirsute on both surfaces (hairs ca. 2 mm), 3–4 veins on either side. Inflorescence: axillary cymes, at 3–4(–8) distal nodes, internodes ca. 5–14 cm, peduncle 1.5–7 cm, hairy like the stem, with 5–7(–11) flowers, bracts leaf-like but smaller. Flower: pedicel 8–15 mm, indumentum as peduncle; calyx 10–16 mm long, tube obconical 2–3 mm, abruptly dilated into ovate-acute or acuminate lobes, ca. 9–12 × 4–6 mm, hirsute, ciliate; corolla white, red-spotted in the centre, tube 18–20 mm, with long eglandular hairs and short glandular hairs, lobes ca. 9 mm long; stamens 25–35 mm, anther ca. 2.5 mm long. Fruit: ca. 1 × 1.2 cm.

Distribution in Central Africa:—D.R. Congo.

Distribution elsewhere:— Angola ( Cabinda), Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria.

Habitat:—Forest, more or less degraded; ca. 200–1520 m.

Selection of representative specimens:— D.R. CONGO. Mayombe: s.l., s.d., Cabra 7 (BR!) . Forestier Central: Lubutu, 27 January 1915, Bequaert 6755 (BR!); Kivu , Territ. Kalehe, vers km 110 route Kavumu-Walikale Irangi , réserve IRSAC, 28 January 1957, Christiaensen 1987 (BR!); Opala , June 1949, Germain 5117 (BR!); Zone de Mambasa , Lenda , Ituri forest , 27 February 1998, Amsini 095 (BR!, MO, WAG) .

Neotypification of Clerodendrum buettneri Gürke :— The holotype ( Gabon, Weg nach der Sibangefarm, September 1884, Büttner 426 (B)) has most likely been destroyed and no isotype could be traced. One of the specimens cited by Thomas (1936) has been found (Gossweiler “7898” (typo for 7998 )), but it was collected in Angola in fruiting state, while the holotype was collected in Gabon in flowering state. I select Klaine 297 as the neotype, because it was collected at short distance from the type locality, and with well-developed corollas.