Synsepalum kaessneri (Engl.) T.D.Penn., Pennington in Gen. Sapotac.: 249 (1991)

Rokni, Saba, Wursten, Bart & Darbyshire, Iain, 2019, Synsepalum chimanimani (Sapotaceae), a new species from the Chimanimani Mountains of Mozambique and Zimbabwe, with notes on the botanical importance of this area, PhytoKeys 133, pp. 115-132 : 120-121

Synsepalum kaessneri (Engl.) T.D.Penn., Pennington in Gen. Sapotac.: 249 (1991)

Sersalisia kaessneri Engl., Engler in Mon. Afr. Pflanzen. 8: 31 (1904) (genus queried by original author).

Pouteria kaessneri (Engl.) Baehni, in Candollea 9: 280 (1942) (genus queried by author).

Afrosersalisia kaessneri (Engl.) J.H.Hemsl., Hemsley in Kew Bull. 20: 483 (1966); in F.T.E.A., Sapotaceae : 44 (1968).

Tulestea kaessneri (Engl.) Aubrév., Aubréville in Adansonia Ser. 2, 12(2): 191-192 (1972), pro parte quoad T. Kässner 398.

Type.

KENYA. Kwale County: Makoni near Mombasa, fl. 20 March 1902, T. Kässner 398 (B, holotype, destroyed; BM!, isotype, BM000925429; K!, isotype, K000430647).

Specimens examined.

KENYA. Kwale County: Makoni near Mombasa, fl. 20 March 1902, Kässner 398 (B, holotype, destroyed; BM!, isotype, BM000925429; K!, isotype, K000430647); Shimba Hills, Makadara Forest, Kwale Area, alt. 320 m [1050 ft], fr. 6 May 1968, Magogo & Glover 1017 (K!); Shimba Hills, Shimba Forest area near Kwale, alt. 381 m [1250 ft], fl. 15 March 1968, Magogo & Glover 280 (K!; BR!, BR0000020184513). Kilifi County: Mangea, Top forest, 3°16.000'S, 39°43.000'E, alt. 500 m, fr. 9 Jan 1992, Robertson 6563 (K!; US!, 02704855; MO, EA). TANZANIA. Tanga Region: East Usambara Mountains, Kwamgumi Plot 4, 4°56.000'S, 38°43.000'E, alt. 300 m, st. 23 July 2001, Luke et al. 7510 (K!, EA). Morogoro Region: Kimboza Forest Reserve c. 48-50 km Morogoro to Matombo Road, alt. c. 300-350 m, st. 9-17 July 1983, Rodgers , Hall and Mwasumbi WAR 2609 (K!, DSM); Mkungwe Catchment Forest Reserve, slopes NW of the ridge, alt. 775 m, fr. 25 Jan 2001, Jannerup & Mhoro 0287 (K!, C); Uluguru Mountains, in the valley leading South from Bigwa Mission, alt. 700-1100 m, fl. 27-29 September 1988, Pócs & Knox 88189/B (K!)

Aubréville (1972) also cites a specimen from Gabon collected in December 1971: ' A. Hladik 1878, Ile de l’éléphant, Makokou, petit arbre, forêt partiellement inondable. Fruit rouge vermillon mangé par les chimpanzés.’ No herbarium is cited, and we have not seen this specimen. From the illustration and description, this specimen seems to have fruit with a definite point to the apex and a persistent style longer than 1 mm, and longer petioles (1.5-2.5 cm versus less than 1 cm long) and the flowers are also slightly larger than S. kaessneri at 3.75 mm in total length. This is very likely to represent a different species and is excluded here. S. kaessneri is not listed in the recent Gabon checklist ( Sosef et al. 2006).

Habitat and ecology.

Moist evergreen and dry semi-deciduous forests. Altitude 300-1100 m.

Phenology.

Flowering September & March. Fruiting January & May.