Anisophyllea neopurpurascens Li Bing Zhang, Xin Chen & H.He, 2015

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

44. Anisophyllea neopurpurascens Li Bing Zhang, Xin Chen & H.He , sp. nov. ( Figure 86 )

Type:— GABON. Nyanga: road 32-km N of Igotchi-Mouenda, Bakker timber concession, 02°41’00”S 010°30’00”E, lowland forest, 250 m, 14 May 1997, G . McPherson 16992 (holotype MO-05082737 !) .

Diagnosis:— Anisophyllea neopurpurascens is most similar to A. purpurascens in the ratio of length to width of styles usually at least 5, in the young branches hirsute with patent or ascending hairs more than 1 mm long, and in the leaves glandulate or granulate, but the former has leaves densely with yellow-brown or transparent glands, fruit surface with beef-red oily glands, young branches hirsute with hairs to 2.1 mm long, and styles with shorter hairs (ca. 0.06 mm long); in contrast, the latter, has leaves with yellow-brown granules, fruit surface without beef-red oily glands, young branches hirsute with hairs less than 1.3 mm long, and styles with longer hairs (to 0.16 mm long).

MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

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Trees to 26.7 m tall, 19.5 cm in diam.; bark smooth, grayish, ca. 3 mm thick, pinkish-brown inside; young branches purple, glandular with colorless and transparent or brownish protuberant glands, and densely hirsute (with lustrous reddish-brown hairs to 2.1 mm long) and pubescent (with hairs ca. 0.16 mm long), but turning slightly pubescent or glabrescent when mature; buds densely with appressed hairs to 0.3 mm long. Leaves dimorphic, internodes between similar types of leaves 1.2–2.5 cm distant, between two adjacent different types of leaves 2–5 mm distant; small leaves caducous, sessile, leaf blade deltoid, 4.0– 7.5 mm long, 2–3 mm wide, base acute to obtuse, or rounded, apex acute or acuminate, densely with transparent glands on both surfaces, sparsely hirsute with brownish hairs to 1.1 mm long abaxially; main veins 7, obscure; large leaves petiolate, petiole to 3 mm long, 0.8–1.3 mm in diam., hairy as branches when young, glabrescent when mature, glandular; leaf blades elliptic or ovate-oblong, 6–14 cm long, 2.5–4.7 cm wide, base usually obliquely cordate, apex acuminate or caudate, up to 2 cm long, margins often ± revolute, thickly chartaceous, reddish-purple and pilose with hairs ca. 0.6 mm on veins when young, dark green and glabrescent when mature, densely glandular with yellowish-brown or colorless and transparent glands slightly protuberant and of different sizes and distribution (small ones ca. 0.03 mm in diam., 0.016–0.06 mm distant from each other; large ones 0.2–0.3 mm in diam., 0.06–0.6 mm distant from each other); main longitudinal veins 7–9, springing from blade base, or two inner lateral veins merged with midrib to 2.5 cm above blade base before separated, impressed adaxially and distinctly prominent abaxially, outer 2–4 lateral veins rather fine, nearly confluent with blade margins and usually disappearing into blade margins, slightly prominent on both surfaces; transverse veins sub-parallel, almost perpendicularly with midrib at both blade base and apex, elsewhere at angles of 50–65° with midrib; veinlets reticulate, barely visible or obscure adaxially, quite obvious and slightly prominent abaxially. Inflorescence a supra-axillary spike, solitary or in 2 serials, rachis to 3.5 cm long, sparsely pilose with hairs to 0.8 mm long, and densely pubescent with hairs ca. 0.25 mm long; flowers bisexual, 4- merous, sessile; receptacle to 1 mm long, 1.1 mm in diam., sparsely glandular outside; sepals to 1.3 mm long, sparsely glandular on both sides, pubescent with hairs ca. 0.16 mm long abaxially, margins short-ciliate; petals 1.7–2.1 mm long, lower part entire, obovate, ca. 0.6 mm long, 0.5 mm wide at base, to 1 mm wide where laciniae

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starting, 5–6 laciniate from apex down to 2/3 petal length with laciniae threadlike, glabrous; stamens 8, free, equal in length, filaments to 1 mm long, base dilated and clavate, anther sub-globose, ca. 0.3 mm long; disk sinuate, pubescent with hairs ca. 0.03 mm long; styles 4, to 1.4 mm long, base free, clavate, 0.25 mm wide, pubescent with yellowish hairs ca. 0.06 mm long, distally attenuate and glabrous, stigmas thickened, ca. 0.1 mm in diam. Fruit a red or orange drupe, ovoid, ca. 2.5 cm long, 1.3 cm in diam., both ends attenuate, or sometimes base obtuse, densely with beef-red glands, apex with persistent floral parts.

Flowering and fruiting: —Flowering time unknown; fruiting in February–May.

Habitat and distribution: — Low land forests; below 650 m. SW Cameroon, Gabon (Estuaire, Moyen-Ogooué, Nyanga, Ogooué-Maritime)( Figure 87 ) .

Taxonomic notes: — Anisophyllea neopurpurascens is most similar to A. purpurascens , but it can be distinguished from the latter by having glands (rather than granules) on young branches, buds, leaves, inflorescences, by having glands on surface of fruits that are beef-red and showy under microscope, by bearing hairs much longer (to 2.1 mm long) in young branches while much shorter on styles (ca. 0.06 mm long), and by having leaves most often much bigger.

The epithet is from the species epithet of A. purpurascens with a prefix neo (new) referring their morphological similarity of these two species.

Additional specimens examined: — CAMEROON. SW Cameroon: Trail to Kourup National Park , 2 km W of Kondotiti-Mundemba Road, 4 km N of bridge over IIor River , 05°00’N, 08°40’E, 100 m, 12 November 1985, Al Gentry & Duncan Thomas 52730 ( MO) . GABON. Estuaire: Crystal Mountains , 00°27’42”N 010°16’42”E, 100 m, 13 April 2006, M. E . Leal, D. Nguema, E . Mounoumoulossi & P . Bissiemou 1104 ( MO); 00°31’N, 010°25’E, 03 May 2001, C. M . Wilks AP 3444 ( MO); 00°40’N, 010°23’E, 08 December 2000, N. S . Nguema 1546 ( MO). Moyen-Ogooué: SWof Lambarene, near Lake Ezanga ; Conoco drilling site, 01°00’S, 010°17’E, 20 m, 05 February 1991, G . McPherson 15207 ( MO). Nyanga Chantier CEB , ca. 50 km SW. of Doussala , 02°36’00”S 010°35’00”E, 21 October 1985, J. M. & B . Reitsma 1683 ( NY), 21 October 1985, J. M. & B . Reitsma 1705 ( NY), 21 October 1985, J. M. & B . Reitsma 1709 ( NY), 21 October 1985, J. M . et B. Reitsma 1712 ( NY); ca. 45 km SW . of Doussala,

MONOGRAPH OF ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

Phytotaxa 229 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 117 02°22’00”S 010°44’00”E, 18 July 1986, J. M . Reitsma 2415 ( MO, NY); road 32-km N of Igotchi-Mouenda, Bakker timber concession, 02°41’00”S 010°30’00”E, 250 m, 14 May 1997, G . McPherson 16995 ( MO); 02°41’00”S 010°30’00”E, 250 m, 16 May 1997, G . McPherson 17020 ( MO). Ogooué-Maritime: Doussala?, 02°14’00”S 010°24’00”E, 650 m, M. S. M . Sosef 1165 ( MO) .

Figures

FIGURE 86. Anisophyllea neopurpurascens Li Bing Zhang, Xin Chen & H.He (G. McPherson 16992; holotype, MO-05082737). —A. Flowering branch. —B. Flower. —C. Petal. —D. Stamens. —E. Styles and disk (Drawn by Fang Cui).

FIGURE 87. Geographical distribution of Anisophyllea neopurpurascens Li Bing Zhang, Xin Chen & H.He.