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| Hartliella txitongensis Osborne & Eb.Fisch., in Osborne, Datizua, Mucaleque et Fischer, 2022. |
Summary
Hartliella txitongensis Osborne & Eb.Fisch., a species new to science from Niassa Province in Northern Mozambique, is described and illustrated. Hartliella txitongensis is the only species of Hartliella known from outside the Upper Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the adjacent region of Zambia. The species is provisionally assessed as Critically Endangered under IUCN criterion B and its potential to be a metallophyte is highlighted. A key to the five species of Hartliella is provided.
Keywords: Chitonga, metallophyte, Niassa, plant taxonomy, Txitonga
Hartliella txitongensis Osborne & Eb.Fisch. sp. nov.
RECOGNITION. Hartliella txitongensis is similar to H. bampsii, but differs in the pairs of stem leaves being closely spaced with a short and condensed internode, thus forming a rosette at base (stem leaves are usually more distant in H. bampsii on a ± elongated stem), the leaves being obovate to elliptic, 2 – 7.5 × 1 – 3.5 cm (vs broadly obovate, 4 – 8 × 2.4 – 2.9 cm in H. bampsii), the slightly longer corolla tube, 8 – 9 mm long (vs 5 – 7 mm in H. bampsii), the undivided upper lip of the corolla (upper lip of corolla bifid in H. bampsii) and the bilobed appendage at the base of the abaxial filaments (simple globose in all other Hartliella species). It differs from Hartliella capitata in the elongated stem below the inflorescence and the shape of the leaves (these being broadly obovate to lanceolate, (3 –) 5 – 7.5 × (1.5 –) 3 – 6 cm in H. capitata) and the shorter corolla tube (12 mm long in H. capitata). A key to species of Hartliella is given below and differences are summarised in Table 1.
ETYMOLOGY. Named after the Txitonga (= Chitonga) Mountains in order to highlight the conservation value of the area.
Jo Osborne, Castigo Datizua, Papin Mucaleque and Eberhard Fischer. 2022. Hartliella txitongensis (Linderniaceae), A New Species from Mozambique. Kew Bulletin. DOI: 10.1007/s12225-022-10034-3
