Summary
Four new species of the pantropical genus Xylopia L. (Annonaceae) in East Africa are proposed. Two of the new species, Xylopia lukei D. M. Johnson & Goyder and X. tenuipetala D. M. Johnson & Goyder, most closely resemble the East African species X. mwasumbii D. M. Johnson. This species group is confined to the lowland coastal dry forests extending from central Tanzania to northern Mozambique. Problems with the circumscription of X. parviflora (A. Rich.) Benth. in eastern Africa are presented. East African plants identified as that species differ in numerous ways from the plants in central and western Africa, and in this paper are distinguished as X. parviflora sensu Verdcourt. Complicating the picture further is the fact that two rare but readily distinguishable species, X. tanganyikensis D. M. Johnson and X. keniensis D. M. Johnson, both described here, have been confused with X. parviflora sensu Verdcourt. The newly described species are narrowly distributed and most sites are threatened by habitat alteration, three of the four species having provisional IUCN conservation assessments of EN B1ab(iii)+ B2ab(iii).
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Notes
The name Xylopia holtzii Engl., based on specimens from the Pugu Hills, a coastal dry forest site south of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was used by Robson (1960) for this taxon and, if needed, is available for East African plants that have been called X. parviflora.
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Acknowledgements
DMJ wishes to thank the Fulbright African Regional Research Program for funding support for initial fieldwork and herbarium study in Tanzania, the TEW Presidential Discretionary Fund of Ohio Wesleyan University for financial support of herbarium work in Europe, Kate Ball and Catherine Beach for illustrations, Silas Jolliff and Nathan Amador for producing the distribution map, Jonathan Timberlake for photographs of the fruit of Xylopia tenuipetala, and the Drylands Africa team at K for logistical support and technical assistance during herbarium work there. Field work in Tanzania was assisted by Henry Ndangalasi, Frank Mbago, and John Swedi. Fieldwork in northern Mozambique undertaken by QL and DJG was facilitated by Pro Natura International and the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris under their Our Plant Reviewed programme. The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Total Foundation are thanked for funding. We are grateful to the curators of the following herbaria for making specimens or images of specimens available to us for study: A, AAU, B, BM, BNRH, BR, DSM, EA, FI-T, G, GH, K, L, LMA, LMU, M, MO, NHT, NY, OWU, P, PR, PRC, PRE, TFD, US, WAG, WU.
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Johnson, D.M., Luke, Q., Goyder, D.J. et al. New species of Xylopia (Annonaceae) from East Africa. Kew Bull 72, 11 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-017-9681-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-017-9681-x