Letestudoxa bella Pellegr., Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. 26: 655 1920
Creators: name: Couvreur, Thomas L. P.
name: Dagallier, Leo-Paul M. J.
name: Crozier, Francoise
name: Ghogue, Jean-Paul
name: Hoekstra, Paul H.
name: Kamdem, Narcisse G.
name: Johnson, David M.
name: Murray, Nancy A.
name: Sonke, Bonaventure
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Magnoliales
Annonaceae
Letestudoxa
Letestudoxa bella

description: Letestudoxa bella Pellegr., Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. 26: 655, 1920 Figs 42, 43; Map 5I = Letestudoxa grandifolia Pellegr., Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. 26: 656, 1920. Type. Gabon. Nyanga, Ilou Micongo, <i>Le Testu G.M.P.C. 1442</i>, 4 Nov 1908: holotype: P[P00364780]; isotype: BM[BM000546387]. = Pachypodanthium simiarum Exell &amp; Mendonça, J. Bot. 74 (Suppl.): 14, 1936. Type. Angola. Maiombe, Belize, <i>Gossweiler J. 6971</i>, 16 Fev 1917: holotype: BM[BM000067635]; isotypes: COI[COI00004878]; LISC[LISC000102, LISC000101, LISC000098, LISC000099, LISC000100]. Type. Gabon. Nyanga; Midounga, near Tchibanga, <i>Le Testu G.M.P.C. 1637, 24 Oct</i> 1910: holotype: P[P00364779]; isotype: BM[BM000546388]. Description. Liana, 16-40 m tall, d.b.h. up to 4 cm; stilt roots or buttresses absent. Indumentum of simple hairs; old leafless branches glabrous, young foliate branches densely pubescent. Leaves: petiole 3-10 mm long, 1-4 mm in diameter, pubescent to glabrous, slightly grooved, blade inserted on top of the petiole; <b>blade 5-18 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, elliptic to obovate</b>, apex acuminate to emarginate, acumen 0.5-1 cm long, base rounded to cordate, coriaceous, below densely pubescent when young, densely pubescent when old, above glabrous when young and old, concolorous; midrib sunken or flat, above glabrous when young and old, below pubescent when young and old; secondary veins 12 to 20 pairs, pubescent below; tertiary venation percurrent to indistinct. Individuals bisexual; inflorescences ramiflorous on old leafless branches, extra axillary. Flowers with 9 perianth parts in 3 whorls, 1 per inflorescence; pedicel 3-6 mm long, 1-3 mm in diameter, pubescent; in fruit 3-7 mm long, 1-3 mm in diameter, pubescent; bracts 2, one basal and one upper towards the lower half of pedicel, basal bract 5-7 mm long, 3-5 mm wide; upper bract 6-12 mm long, 4-7 mm wide, <b>not clasping the flower bud</b>; sepals 3, valvate, completely fused, tearing at anthesis, 10-20 mm long, base truncate, brown, densely pubescent outside, densely pubescent inside, margins flat; petals free, outer petals longer than inner; outer petals 3, 30-55 mm long, 15-55 mm wide, ovate, apex acute, base attenuate, yellow to orange with pinkish margins, margins crisped, densely pubescent outside, pubescent inside; inner petals 3, imbricate, 15-30 mm long, 10-25 mm wide, elliptic to ovate, apex acute, base attenuate to acute, yellow to orange with red marginal zone, margins wavy, densely pubescent outside, pubescent inside; stamens numerous, 2-3 mm long, broad; connective flattened, pubescent, red; staminodes absent; carpels free, around 175, ovary ca. 2 mm long, stigma capitate, pubescent. <b>Fruit pseudosyncarpous</b>, ca. 45 mm long, ca. 50 mm in diameter in total, globose; individual carpels sessile, 125 to 150 carpels, obovoid to obtrulloid, apex rounded to apiculate, sparsely pubescent, 6 to 7 ribbed, green turning red when ripe; seed 1 per monocarp, 15-16 mm long, 4-8 mm in diameter, ellipsoid; aril present, light brown. Distribution. Known from Angola, Cameroon to Gabon and in the Republic of Congo; in Cameroon known from the South region. Habitat. Growing in lowland primary and secondary rain forests. Altitude 50-750 m a.s.l. Local and common names known in Cameroon. None recorded. IUCN conservation status. Not evaluated. Uses in Cameroon. None reported. Notes. <i>Letestudoxa bella</i> is characterized by its mostly elliptic leaves (sometimes obovate too) which are generally smaller (5-18 cm) than those of <i>L. lanuginosa</i> (15-28 cm). In addition, in fresh material, <i>L. lanuginosa</i> has a bullate upper surface (versus a more leathery smooth upper surface in <i>L. bella</i>). In flower, <i>L. lanuginosa</i> is characterized by the upper bract clasping the flower bud, which is not the case in <i>L. bella</i>. Specimens examined. <b>South Region</b>: 26 km E of confluent Ntem River and Akom River near Ebolowa, 2.29°N, 11.86°E, <i>05 March 1970</i>, <i>Letouzey R.</i> 10097 (BR,P,P,YA); Tom (Nyabessan), 2.43°N, 10.52°E, <i>04 March 1963</i>, <i>Raynal J.</i> 10195 (P,YA).
description: Published as part of <i>Couvreur, Thomas L. P., Dagallier, Leo-Paul M. J., Crozier, Francoise, Ghogue, Jean-Paul, Hoekstra, Paul H., Kamdem, Narcisse G., Johnson, David M., Murray, Nancy A. &amp; Sonke, Bonaventure, 2022, Flora of Cameroon - Annonaceae Vol 45, pp. 1-532 in PhytoKeys 207</i> on pages 154-156, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.207.61432
description: {"references": ["Le Thomas, A, 1969b. Annonacees. In: Aubreville, A, Ed., Flore du Gabon. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris: 1 - 371"]}