14. Trichoscypha smythei Hutch. & Dalz.

Fl. West Trop. Afr., ed. 1, 1: 508 (1928); Kew Bull. 1929: 28 (1929); Keay in Hutch. & Dalz., Fl. West Trop. Afr., ed. 2, 1: 736 (1958), partly (see Notes).

— Type: Unwin & Smythe 33, Sierra Leone, Picket Hill, ♂ fl. Dec. (holo-, K).

Trichoscypha smeathmannii Keay, Bull. Jard. Bot. Brux. 26: 205, fig. 63 (1956); Keay in Hutch. & Dalz., Fl. West Trop. Afr., ed. 2, 1: 736 (1958). — Type: Smeathmann s.n., s.loc. ♂ fl. — (holo-, P-LA; iso-, BM, G).

Shrub or small tree up to 15 m tall, trunk to 20 cm in diam. Leaves (2-)3-6(-7)-jugate; leaflets papery to coriaceous, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 2.5-4(-4.5) times as long as wide, (6-)8- 17(-27) × 2.5-5(-7) cm, shortly cuneate to rounded at base, gradually acuminate, lateral nerves often rather indistinct, c. 8-12 pairs; midrib impressed above, glabrous or nearly so. Inflorescence (sub)terminal, more rarely borne below the leaves. Flowers (Sep.-Dec.) usually pedicellate, the female ones distinctly so, white, fragrant. Fruits (Jan.-Mar.) glabrous or nearly so. — Figs. 1 M-N, 10.

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION. — Rain forest or gallery forest up to 1,400 m altitude, from Guinea to Ghana. Not recorded from Côte d’Ivoire.

SELECTED SPECIMENS. — GHANA: Vigne 3496, Adamsu, ♂ fl. Dec. (P). — GUINEA: Chevalier 12443, Timbo, Fouta Djalon, fr. Mar. (P); 14753, Kouria ♂ fl. (K, P); Chillou 1846, Friguiagbé, fr. Feb. (P); Schnell 3836, Mts. Nimba, fl. b. Oct. (P). — LIBERIA: Adames 820, Mts. Nimba, ♀ fl. Dec. (K); Bos 2569, Zorzor, ♂ fl. Dec. (WAG); Jansen 2250, Bendu, ♀ fl. Nov. (P, WAG); van Meer 202, Gola Nat. For. ♂ fl. Oct. (K, WAG). — SIERRA LEONE: Deighton 1412, Njala, ♂ fl. Oct. (K); 3616, Mange, fr. Feb. (K); King 64 B, Kasawe, ♀ fl. Dec. (K); Thomas 3278, Bumbuna ♂ fl. Oct., (B, K); Unwin & Smythe 33, Picket Hill, ♂ fl. Dec. (K), type .

NOTES. — KEAY (1958) included in T. smythei Linder 1329, the type of the new species T. linderi . In his key to the species he used a character of this specimen, viz. that the inflorescence is born below the leaves. This feature, however, is not shown by the type (Unwin & Smythe 33), nor is it mentioned by HUTCHINSON & DALZIEL, the authors of T. smythei . KEAY in fact misinterpreted the identity of this specimen and as a consequence proposed T. smeathmannii as a new name for Brucea paniculata Lam., for which T. smythei was in fact available, and did not recognize that Linder 1329 represented a new species.

Trichoscypha linderi is very different from T. smythei, not only by its cauliflorous habit, which occasionally occurs in the latter as well, but especially by its very different leaves and larger male flowers with a cupular disc.

Trichoscypha smythei is very closely related to T. lucens . I have refrained from uniting them in particular for the lack of fruiting specimens. The disc and the ovary vary from completely glabrous or with a few sparse hairs, as represented by T. smythei, to densely velutinous as in T. lucens . The scarce available fruiting material can be classified in the same way, i.e. with glabrous or nearly glabrous fruits in T. smythei and with densely velutinous fruits in T. lucens . More fruiting material, especially from Côte d’Ivoire, is needed to decide whether T. smythei can be maintained as a distinct species.