Corresponding author: Guang-Wan Hu (
Academic editor: N. Holstein
Wei N, Zhong Z-X, Melly DK, Kipkoech S, Watuma BM, Ngumbau VM, Kamau P, Hu G-W, Wang Q-F (2020)
During field investigations of the Kenyan flora in 2016, a
Specimens of East African
Aiming to delimitate the phylogenetic position of our
GenBank accession numbers for sequence data used in this study.
Species and specimen-voucher | Accession No. |
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The Table
Dissimilar characters to distinguish
Character |
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Stem | Thick, up to 2.5 cm in diam., subglabrous | Thick, up to 1.5 cm in diam., puberulous | Thin, up to 0.8 cm in diam., subglabrous |
Leaf blade | Membraneous, deeply cordate to subtruncate at the base, subglabrous, with sparsely scabrid setulose on both sides | Membraneous to subcoriaceous, deeply cordate to subtruncate at the base, puberulous on both sides or sparsely scabrid-setulose on the veins beneath | Slightly fleshy, membraneous, subglabrous, cordate to subtruncate at the base, with sparsely scattered bristles on adaxial surface only |
Male inflorescence | Sessile, subumbelliform | Subumbelliform or shortly racemiform sessile or pedunculate axillary clusters | Sessile or pedunculated, subumbelliform or racemiform |
Probract | Well-developed, leafy, ovate, up to 18 × 12 mm, incurved, beak-like, persistent | Linear, hooked or curly, minute, caduceus | Linear, hooked or curly, less than 10 mm long, minute, caduceus |
Perianth | Receptacle-tube 1.8–3 mm long, hairy only on inner surface, petal lobes ca. 1.8 mm long | Receptacle-tube 2.0–5.5 mm long, hairy on both inner and outside surface, petal lobes 1.5–3.5 mm long | Receptacle-tube 6.0–7.5 mm long, hairy only on inner surface, petal lobes 2.0–3.0 mm long reflexed |
Pedicle | 3–12 mm long in male, 4–6 mm long in female | 1.5–10 mm long in male, 0.4–11.0 (20.0) mm long in female | 4–20 mm long in male, 8–25 mm long in female |
Filament length | ca. 1.5 mm | 1–2.5 mm | ca. 3.5 mm |
Style length | 2–3.5 mm long, stigma ca. 1.5 mm in diam. | 2–4 mm long, stigma ca. 2 mm in diam. | 6–7 mm long, stigma ca. 2 mm in diam. |
Ovary | Glabrous, subglobose, with neck up to 1 mm long | Puberulous, subglobose to fusiform to beaked, with neck up to 2 mm long | Glabrous, subglobose, with neck up to 3.5 mm long |
Fruit | 2–16 in clusters, sparsely covered with tiny protuberances, subglobose, 8–10 mm in diam. | 1–10 in clusters, usually glabrous, globose, 8–13 mm in diameter, or ellipsoid, 10–12 × 7–8 mm | 2–8 in clusters, densely covered with tiny protuberances, globose, 9–11 mm in diam. |
In total, 60 sequences representing 38
Bayesian tree inferred from the nrITS sequences dataset to elucidate the phylogenetic position of
It is close to
Kenya. Nandi County, South Nandi Forest, Morongiot area,
Perennial climber, 8 m or longer; rhizome robust, woody when old, up to 2.5 cm in diam., roots slender, branched; stem many-branched, grooved, usually contorted when aged, sparsely puberulous except densely hairy at nodes. Leaves simple, petioles 2–7 cm long, grooved adaxially, subglabrous; blades 38–65 × 28–46 mm, ovate-cordate in outline, shallowly 3-lobed occasionally, membraneous, subglabrous, deeply cordate to subtruncate at base, margin slightly sinuate-toothed, apex acuminate and apiculate; scabrid-punctate above, 3–11 main veins sunken adaxially and protrudent abaxially, with sparsely-scattered bristles on both sides, especially on veins and margins; tendrils simple, up to 15 cm long. Dioecious. Inflorescence base with a well-developed leafy probract, up to 18 × 12 mm, ovate, incurved, beak-like, persistent, 2–3 main veins from base, base cordate, apex acuminate. Male inflorescences axillary, sessile, subumbelliform, 8- to 30-flowered, pedicels 3–12 mm long; receptacle-tube 1.8–3 mm long, campanulate, greenish-cream, turning into orange when aged, inner surface densely hairy, outside surface glabrous; sepal lobes 5, ca. 1 mm long, dentiform, pale green; petal lobes 5, ca. 1.8 × 1.5 mm, triangular-ovate, white, turning cream to orange when aged. Stamens 3, inserted in middle of tube; filaments ca. 1.5 mm long, subglabrous, lower half fused with tube; anthers ca.1 mm long, ellipsoid, 2-thecae; thecae 1 mm long, vertical, slightly curved, connective elliptic, with finely papillose hairs; disc ca. 1 mm in diam., depressed globose, obscurely trilobed, elevated. Female inflorescences axillary, sessile, 6- to 22-flowered in umbelliform clusters; pedicel 4–6 mm long; perianth similar to male flowers; ovary subglobose, glabrous, with evident neck up to 1 mm long; style 2–3.5 mm long, glabrous, stigma ca. 1.5 mm in diam., with 3 down-curved papillose lobes; staminodes 3, ca. 1.5 mm long, linear, glabrous, at base of the tube; disc ca. 1.8 mm in diam., annular, 3-lobed, surrounding base of style, free from tube. Fruits clustered, 8–10 mm in diam., subglobose, subglabrous, sparsely covered with tiny protuberances, turning from green to orange when mature; pedicel 5–10 mm long. Seed ovate in outline, narrowly bordered, lenticular, compressed.
Numerous populations of this new species have been documented in the western parts of Kenya’s forests, including Morongiot and Kobujoi areas of South Nandi Forest, Kapsasur area of Nandi Centre, Yale River Trail of Kakamega Forest, Timbilil and Sambret Catchment area of south-western Mau Forest. It usually climbs over tree trunks or twines around shrubs in moist forests or at forest margin at elevations of 1950–2230 m.
This new species was found in the western Kenyan forests with numerous localities. It is locally quite common in the wild and frequently grows in forests or at forest margins. Thus, we assess it to be “Least Concern” (
Flowering and fruiting from April to July and November to January, corresponding to the wet seasons of the bimodal rainfall pattern of this region.
The epithet “
Our
Distribution map of
Photographs showing vegetative characters of
The broadly circumscribed concept of
Photographs showing reproductive characters of
We would like to thank the following herbaria BM, BR, EA, HIB, K and P for hosting our visits or providing relevant high-resolution images during our study. Gratitude is also given to the subject editor Norbert Holstein and the reviewer Hanno Schaefer for providing useful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of the manuscript and to Mrs. Lunlun Gao from Huazhong Agricultural University for preparing the distribution map. Lastly, we are also grateful to the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) for issuing fieldwork permits (permit number: RESEA/1/KFS 98 and RESEA/1/KFS 22) to conduct the field investigations. This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31970211) and from Sino-Africa Joint Research Center, CAS (SAJC201614).
Modified CTAB protocol on the base of
molecular data