Lebbiea grandiflora (Podostemaceae), a rheophytic herb from the Sewa River rapids in Sierra Leone, is described as a new species. It is the first new African genus of Podostemaceae published for 30 ...years. First collected in May 2017, the species is assessed as Critically Endangered using the IUCN 2012 standard. It is on the edge of extinction with a small population at a single site threatened by deposition of gravel and sand from alluvial gold and diamond mining upstream, and a planned hydro-electric dam. The new genus is unique in Podostemaceae in a) its highly developed and robust style-stigma structure in which the bases of the two style-stigmas unite to form a bifurcate funneliform-cylindrical structure, with a reflexed, blade-like apex that extends half-way around the perimeter of the ovary-fruit towards the base of the ovary-fruit, b) a specialised andropodium, with robust, self-supporting capacity, having differentiated thickened central, and angled, thinner marginal areas (in other Podostemaceae the andropodial structures are undifferentiated), c) the pillar-like haptera which completely elevate the crustose root above the substrate. Lebbiea is placed in Podostemoideae, necessitating amplification of the delimitation of that subfamily in which it is additionally unique in having the foliose tepals characteristic of the basal subfamilies Weddellinoideae and Tristichoideae.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Although many new species to science have been discovered from thousands of specimens resulting from botanical inventories to support conservation management in Cameroon in recent years, additional ...species remain to be formally evaluated taxonomically and described. These include species from genera which have been taxonomically neglected for many decades in Africa, such as
This study is based mainly on herbarium specimens and field observations made in Cameroon during a series of botanical surveys. Herbarium material was examined with a Leica Wild M8 dissecting binocular microscope fitted with an eyepiece graticule.
Cheek (
-
or
) is described as an Endangered (EN B2 ab(iii)) new tree species from the submontane forests of Cameroon. It is illustrated and described, and its conservation status and taxonomic affinities are assessed. It is the first new
described from Africa in more than 90 years and is unique on the continent in having sculptured fruits.
A systematic revision, with a molecular phylogenetic study, of
Burm. ex L. in Africa is necessary if the affinities of the species, including
, are to be reliably established.
Nepenthes maximoides
sp. nov. (Sect.
Alatae
) is described and assessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) from Luzon, Philippines and appears unrecorded in 110 years. The spectacular, ...large, narrowly funnel-shaped upper pitchers, lids with recurved basal and filiform apical appendages, unlike any other species in the Philippines, closely resemble those of
N. maxima
(Sect.
Regiae
) of Sulawesi–New Guinea, likely due to convergent evolution. Following recent phylogenomic analysis, sect.
Alatae
is divided into two, Sect.
Alatae sensu stricto
of Luzon to Sibuyan (including
N. maximoides
), and Sect.
Micramphorae
, expanded and recircumscribed to encompass those species of the southern Visayas, and Mindanao. A key is provided to the six species now recognised in the newly narrowly recircumscribed Sect.
Alatae
. The number of
Nepenthes
species recorded from Luzon has increased from two in 2001, to eight in 2020, all but one of which are endemic to that island, and four of which appear to be point endemics.
New scientific discoveries: Plants and fungi Cheek, Martin; Nic Lughadha, Eimear; Kirk, Paul ...
Plants, people, planet,
September 2020, 2020-09-00, 20200901, 2020-09-01, Letnik:
2, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Research and publication of the planet's remaining plant and fungal species as yet unknown to science is essential if we are to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 “Life ...on Land” which includes the protection of terrestrial ecosystems and halting of biodiversity loss. If species are not known to science, they cannot be assessed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and so the possibility to protect them from extinction is reduced. Furthermore, until species are known to science they cannot be fully scientifically evaluated for their potential as new foods, medicines, and products which would help address SDGs 1,2,3, and 8.
Societal Impact Statement
Research and publication of the planet's remaining plant and fungal species as yet unknown to science is essential if we are to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 “Life on Land” which includes the protection of terrestrial ecosystems and halting of biodiversity loss. If species are not known to science, they cannot be assessed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and so the possibility to protect them from extinction is reduced. Furthermore, until species are known to science they cannot be fully scientifically evaluated for their potential as new foods, medicines, and products which would help address SDGs 1,2,3, and 8.
Summary
Scientific discovery, including naming new taxa, is important because without a scientific name, a species is invisible to science and the possibilities of researching its ecology, applications and threats, and conserving it, are greatly reduced. We review new scientific discoveries in the plant and fungal kingdoms, based largely on new names of taxa published in 2019 and indexed in the International Plant Names Index and Index Fungorum. Numbers of new species in both kingdoms were similar with 1942 new species of plant published and 1882 species of fungi. However, while >50% of plant species have likely been discovered, >90% of fungi remain unknown. This gulf likely explains the greater number of higher order taxa for fungi published in 2019: three classes, 18 orders, 48 families and 214 genera versus one new family and 87 new genera for plants. We compare the kingdoms in terms of rates of scientific discovery, globally and in different taxonomic groups and geographic areas, and with regard to the use of DNA in discovery. We review species new to science, especially those of interest to humanity as new products, and also by life‐form. We consider where future such discoveries can be expected. We recommend an urgent increase in investment in scientific discovery of plant and fungal species, while they still survive. Priorities include more investment in training taxonomists, in building and equipping collections‐based research centers for them, especially in species‐rich, income‐poor countries where the bulk of species as yet unknown to science are thought to occur.
Croton scarciesii (Euphorbiaceae-Crotonoideae), a rheophytic shrub from West Africa, is shown to have been misplaced in Croton for 120 years, having none of the diagnostic characters of that genus, ...but rather a set of characters present in no known genus of the family. Pollen analysis shows that the new genus Karima belongs to the inaperturate crotonoid group. Analysis of a concatenated molecular dataset combining trnL-F and rbcL sequences positioned Karima as sister to Neoholstia from south eastern tropical Africa in a well-supported clade comprised of genera of subtribes Grosserineae and Neoboutonieae of the inaperturate crotonoid genera. Several morphological characters support the relationship of Karima with Neoholstia, yet separation is merited by numerous characters usually associated with generic rank in Euphorbiaceae. Quantitative ecological data and a conservation assessment supplement illustrations and descriptions of the taxon.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This is the first revision in more than 100 years of the African genus
, formerly considered endemic to Gabon. Closely related to
,
is distinct from
because of its 2-3-locular ovary (vs. unilocular), ...peduncle concealed by cataphylls at anthesis and far shorter than the spathe (vs. exposed, far exceeding the spathe), stipitate fruits and viviparous (asexually reproductive) roots (vs. sessile, roots non-viviparous), lack of laticifers (vs. laticifers present) and differences in spadix: spathe proportions and presentation. However, it is possible that a well sampled molecular phylogenetic analysis might show that one of these genera is nested inside the other. In this case the synonymisation of
will be required. Three species, one new to science, are recognised, in two sections. Although doubt has previously been cast on the value of recognising
, of Gabon, it is here accepted and maintained as a distinct species in the monotypic section,
. However, it is considered to be probably globally extinct.
, type species of the genus, also Gabonese but probably extending to Congo, is maintained in Sect.
together with
. of the Ebo Forest, Littoral Region, Cameroon, the first addition to the genus since the nineteenth century, and which extends the range of the genus 450 km north from Gabon, into the Cross-Sanaga biogeographic area. The discovery of
resulted from a series of surveys for conservation management in Cameroon, and triggered this article. All three species are morphologically characterised, their habitat and biogeography discussed, and their extinction risks are respectively assessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), Endangered and Critically Endangered using the IUCN standard. Clearance of forest habitat for logging, followed by agriculture or urbanisation are major threats.
may occur in a formally protected area and is also cultivated widely but infrequently in Europe, Australia and the USA for its spectacular inflorescences.
Two new coffee relatives (tribe Coffeeae, Rubiaceae), discovered during botanical expeditions to Cameroon, are examined for generic placement, and the placement of three previously known species ...(Argocoffeopsis fosimondi, A. spathulata and Calycosiphonia pentamera) is reinvestigated using plastid sequence (accD-psa1, rpl16, trnL-F) and morphological data. Seed biochemistry of the new species and pollen micromorphology (only one of the two species) are also studied. Based on the plastid sequence data, the new taxa are nested in a well-supported monophyletic group that includes Argocoffeopsis and Calycosiphonia. Within this clade, three well-supported subclades are recovered that are morphologically easy to diagnose: (1) Calycosiphonia (excluding C. pentamera), (2) Argocoffeopsis (excluding A. fosimondi and A. spathulata), and (3) a clade including the above excluded species, in addition to the new species. Based on the results, Kupeantha, a new genus of five species, is described, including two new Critically Endangered taxa from the Highlands of Cameroon: Kupeantha ebo and K. kupensis. Phytochemical analysis of Kupeantha seeds reveals compounds assigned as hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, amino acids and ent-kaurane diterpenoids; caffeine was not detected. Kupeantha is the first new genus described in tribe Coffeeae in 40 years.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Continuing a survey of the chemistry of species of the largely continental African genus
, we investigate a species previously referred to as
sp. 1 of Congo. From the leaves of
sp. 1 we report six ...compounds. The compounds were three furoquinoline alkaloids, kokusaginine (1), maculine (2), and flindersiamine (3), two acridone alkaloids, arborinine (4) and 1-hydroxy-3-methoxy-10-methylacridone (5), and the triterpenoid, ß-amyrin (6). Compounds 1-4 are commonly isolated from other
species, compound
has been reported before once, from Malagasy
, while this is the first report of ß-amyrin from
. This combination of compounds has never before been reported from any species of
. We test the hypothesis that
sp. 1 is new to science and formally describe it as
, unique in the genus in that the trifoliolate leaves are subsessile, with the median petiolule far exceeding the petiole in length. Similar fleshy-leathery four-locular syncarpous fruits are otherwise only known in the genus in
(formerly the monotypic genus
Engl.), a potential sister species, but requiring further investigation to confirm this phylogenetic position. We briefly characterise the unusual and poorly documented Atlantic coast equatorial ecosystem, where
is restricted to evergreen thicket on white sand, unusual in a genus usually confined to evergreen forest. This endemic-rich ecosystem with a unique amphibian as well as plants, extends along the coastline from the mouth of the Congo River to southern Rio Muni, a distance of about 1,000 km, traversing five countries. We map and illustrate
and assess its extinction risk as Endangered (EN B1ab(iii)+B2ab(iii)) using the IUCN, 2012 standard. Only three locations are known, and threats include port and oil refinery construction and associated activities, with only one protected location, the Jane Goodall Institute's Tchimpounga Reserve. Initial evidence indicates that the seeds of
are dispersed by chimpanzees, previously unreported in the genus.
We test the hypothesis that the tree species previously known as
. is a new species for science. We formally characterise and name this species as
(Sapindaceae-Litchi clade) and we discuss it in the ...context of the assemblage of montane tree species in the Cameroon Highlands of West-Central Africa. The new species is a shade-bearing, non-pioneer understorey forest tree species reaching 15 m high and a trunk diameter that can attain over 40 cm at 1.3 m above the ground. Seed dispersal has been recorded by chimpanzees (
) and by putty-nose monkeys (
) and the species is used by chimpanzees for nesting. Cameroon has the highest species-diversity and species endemism known in this African-Western Indian Ocean genus of 42, mainly lowland species.
is an infrequent tree species known from six locations in surviving islands of montane (sometimes also upper submontane) forest along the line of the Cameroon Highlands, including one at Ngel Nyaki in Mambilla, Nigeria.
is here assessed as Endangered according to the IUCN 2012 standard, threatened by severe fragmentation of its mountain forest habitat due to extensive and ongoing clearance for agriculture. The majority of the 28 tree species of montane forest (above 2000 m alt.) in the Cameroon Highlands are also widespread in East African mountains (i.e. are Afromontane wide).
is one of only seven species known to be endemic (globally restricted to) these highlands. It is postulated that this new species is morphologically closest to
a frequent species at a lower (submontane) altitudinal band of the same range. Detailed ecological data on
from the Nigerian location, Ngel Nyaki, where it has been known under the name
is reviewed.
Schltr. (Thismiaceae) is a rare and little-known genus of achlorophyllous mycoheterotrophic perennial herbs with one of the most remarkable distributions of all angiosperm plant genera globally, ...being disjunct between Japan and West-Central Africa. Each species is known only from a single location, and in most cases from a single specimen. This monographic study names, describes and maps two new species,
Cheek from cloud forest in SW Region Cameroon and
Cheek from gallery forest in the Central African Republic
representing the first new
species described from Africa in 112 years, and raising the number of described
species from four to six.
is remarkable for sharing more morphological characters with two of the three Japanese species (
C.Abe & Akasawa,
(H. Ohashi) Tsukaya) than with the geographically much closer type species of the genus,
from Mt Cameroon. Based mainly on herbarium specimens and field observations made in Cameroon and Japan during a series of botanical surveys, we provide descriptions, synonymy, mapping and extinction risk assessments for each species of
, together with keys to the genera of Thismiaceae and the species of
. The subterranean structures of African
are described for the first time, and found to be consistent with those of the Japanese species. We review and reject an earlier proposal that the Japanese species should be segregated from the African species as a separate genus,
Hatus. The only character that separates the two disjunct species groups is now flower colour: blue or partly-blue in the Japanese species compared with orange-brown in the African species. Studies of the pollination biology and mycorrhizal partners of
are still lacking. Two of the six species,
Schltr. and
, appear to be extinct, and the remaining four are assessed as Critically Endangered using the IUCN 2012 criteria. To avoid further extinction, an urgent requirement is for conservation management of the surviving species in the wild. Since few achlorophyllous mycoheterotrophs have been successfully cultivated from seed to maturity, ex situ conservation will not be viable for these species and protection in the wild is the only viable option. While natural habitat survives, further botanical surveys could yet reveal additional new species between Central Africa and Japan.
PDF
