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Novon a journal of botanical nomenclature from the Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis, MO :Missouri Botanical Garden, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/744

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A New Species of Commelina (Commelinaceae) from Tanzania

Robert B. Faden

Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution,

Washington, D.C. 20560-0166, U.S.A.

Mac //. Alford

Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi College, Clinton, Mississippi 39058, U.S. A Current address: L. H. Bailey Hortorium, 462 Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca,

New York 14853-4301, U.S.A.

flores efferens: (lores armeniaci. 7-10 mm lati: capsular 2.5—4.0 X 1.5-2.7 mm. triloculares, trivalves. loculo

ABSTRACT. Commelina polhillii Faden & Alford, H l - 4 ) X 0.3-0.7 cm; spathae pedunculo 0.6-5.0 mm

n _ .„ i • r s^ _ ;• -.i i rr lon^o. solilariae, 5.9- 1 1 .()(- 10.5) mm lon^ae. 2.0—0.0

a new annual species ol Lommelina with butt-or- h . . . . . . v ... ...?..

n . -i i r t, T i.rr mm a ' ta< '- paguus glabns. margimhus cinatis; cmcinnus

ange flowers, ,s ( ] Phllli P s < Muasya & Mocha 96/94A (DAK. K, US);

a reduce

d

d

gynoecium.

II

owever,

i - A i i i i-i • same locality and cultivation, pressed 29 July 1997. Fa-

plants were quite old when this observation was ^ phlUip ^ MuasyQ & Macha 96mR (EA M() US) .

made, so this may be an artifact. In a pollinator Kalenga, 15 km SW of Iringa. 1435 m, wet sandy soil exclusion experiment, 9 out of 10 bagged, bisexual with some clay admixed, edge of cultivation, 7 Feb. 1962,

Polhill & Paulo 1375 (K); Ruaha National Park. Magangwe, Brachystegia woodland. 18 May 1968, Renvoize 2241 (K). Mpanda: 10 km on Mpanda-Invanga road, 6°22'S,

flowers set fruit.

A preliminary chromosome count of 2n = 30 was obtained tor C. polhillii, using the method of Faden oiono'i? insn * * a l m i

\ . & t ol 09 L, 1050 m, ironstone outcrop with shallow sod and

and Suda (1980). Two intact root tip cells of one

Brachystegia woodland, 15 May 1997, Bidgood. Sitoni,

plant yielded exact counts of 2n = 30, but the two Vollesen & Whitehead 3972 (K, US).

living plants became senescent and no further

counts could be obtained. Acknowledgments. This study was conducted as

Commelina polhillii and C. subulata belong to an P art of the 1997 Research Training Program at the

unnamed, almost entirely African species group that National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian

is characterized by spathes with free margins, buff- Institution. We thank the Office of the Director, Na-

orange flowers, the lower petal large and usually tional Museum of National History, for providing

concolorous with the paired petals, and apiculate, financial support for the junior author; the Re-

trilocular, usually trivalved and five-seeded cap- search Opportunities Fund, National Museum of

sules. The species in this group, which is centered Natural History, and the Royal Botanic Gardens,

in Tropical East Africa, are mostly annuals of sea- Kew, for funding the fieldwork to southern Tanzania

sonally wet habitats. The recognized species, in ad- in 1996 by the senior author; The American Society

dition to the above two, are C. purpurea, C. lugardii for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew for financial

Bullock, C. reptans Brenan, C. nyasensis C. B. support for herbarium studies at the Royal Botanic

Clarke, C. merkeri K. Schumann, C. trilobosperma K. Gardens, Kew, by the senior author, in connection

Schumann, and C. arenicola Faden, the last species,

yf Tropical East Afi

an endemic of Somalia, being the only species in the kowski for providing laboratory assistance; Alice group to occur at low elevations and to have a bi- Tangerini for the drawings; and the Royal Botanic locular capsule with an indehiscent dorsal locule. Gardens, Kew, for the loan of specimens.

[Begin Page: Page 21]

Volume 11, Number 1 2001

Faden & Alford

Commelina polhillii from Tanzania

21

Literature Cited

Faden, R. B. 1984. New taxa of Aneilema R. Br. (Commelinaceae) from southern and tropical East Africa. Bothalia. 15: 89-100.

ceae) from the Flora of Tropical East Africa. Novon 4: 224-235.

& Y. Suda. 1980. Cytotaxonomy of Commelina-

ceae: Chromosome numbers of some African and Asiatic species. J. Linn. Soc, Bot. 81: 301-325.

. 1991. The morphology and taxonomy of Aneilema Polhill, D. 1988. Flora of Tropical East Africa. Index of

R. Brown (Commelinaceae). Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 76:

1-166.

. 1994. New species of Commelina (Commelina-

Collecting Localities. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. R.H.S. Colour Chart. 1995. Royal Horticultural Society, London.