Vitex congolensis var. thomasii Meerts 2018, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Meerts, Pierre
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Lamiales
Lamiaceae
Vitex
Vitex congolensis
Vitex congolensis var. thomasii (de wild.) meerts

description: <b>4b.</b> <i>Vitex congolensis</i> var. <i>thomasii</i> (De Wild.) Meerts, <b>comb. nov.</b> <i>Vitex thomasii</i> De Wild., Contribution à la Flore du Katanga, Supplément 2: 106. 1929 (De Wildeman 1929b); Delevoy (1929: 185); Moldenke (1958a: 148); Lebrun &amp; Stork (1997: 526). – Type: D.R. Congo, Kalonda, 20 Aug. 1923, <i>Thomas</i> 1324 (holo-: BR barcode BR 0000008906267). <i>Vitex thomasii</i> f. <i>kasaiensis</i> De Wild. (De Wildeman 1929b: 108); Moldenke (1958a: 149). – Type: D.R. Congo, Kasaï, Bena-Dibele, <i>Luja</i> 259 (holo-: BR barcode BR 0000013602093). <i>Vitex buchneri</i> Gürke (Gürke 1893: 166); Baker (1900: 331); De Wildeman (1912b: 280); Pieper (1928: 58); Lebrun &amp; Stork (1997: 524). – Type: Angola, Kassambo, <i>Büchner</i> 574 (holo-: B †), <b>synon. nov</b> <b>.</b> Differs from the type variety by the large foliaceous elliptic lower bracts. <b>Distribution</b> – Subendemic to D.R. Congo, restricted to the southern margin of the distribution range of <i>V. congolensis</i>, i.e. Kasaï and Katanga, very locally extending to N Angola. <b>Note</b> – <i>Vitex congolensis</i> is a Guineo-Congolian linking species extremely variable as to density, length and intensity of the fulvous color of the indumentum. Variation of indumentum is continuous and cannot be translated into infraspecific units. <i>Vitex thomasii</i> De Wild. is a variant showing a very unusual character, i.e. foliaceous bracts at the lower inflorescence nodes, up to 30 × 8 mm. This is not a teratological condition, because several gatherings from distant localities exhibit such bracts. This variant deserves taxonomic recognition at varietal rank. The type specimen of <i>V. buchneri</i> has not been found. However, the protologue clearly indicates that this taxon belongs here (“…die Bracteen der Nebenachsen erster Ordnung lanzettlich in den Stiel verschmälert, mit dem Stiel bis 3 cm lang…”) (Gürke 1893).
description: Published as part of <i>Meerts, Pierre, 2018, Synopsis of the genus Vitex (Lamiaceae) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, pp. 380-392 in Plant Ecology and Evolution 151 (3)</i> on page 384, DOI: 10.5091/plecevo.2018.1504, http://zenodo.org/record/7664390
description: {"references": ["De Wildeman E. (1929 b) Contribution a la flore du Katanga. Sup- plement 2. Bruxelles, Comite special du Katanga.", "Delevoy G. (1929) La question forestiere au Katanga. II. Les essences forestieres au Katanga. Bruxelles, Comite Special du Katanga.", "Moldenke H. N. (1958 a) Materials towards a monograph of the genus Vitex. X. Phytologia 6: 129 - 192.", "Lebrun J. - P., Stork A. (1997) Enumeration des plantes a fleurs d'Afrique. IV. Geneve, Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la ville de Geneve.", "Gurke R. L. A. M. (1893) Verbenaceae africanae. Botanische Jahr- bucher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeogra- phie 18: 165 - 183.", "Baker J. G. (1900) Vitex. In: Thiselton-Dyer W. T. (ed.) Flora of tropical Africa 5 (2): 315 - 332. London, Lovell Reeve &amp; Co.", "De Wildeman E. (1912 b) Documents pour l'etude de la geo-botanique congolaise. Bulletin de la Societe Royale de Botanique de Belgique 51 (3): 1 - 406.", "Pieper W. (1928) Vorarbeiten zu einer Revision der afrikanischen Vitex - Arten mit Berucksichtigung der ubrigen. Botanische Jahrbucher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzenge- ographie 62, Beibl. 141 (\" 142 \"): 1 - 91 (+ XIII tables)."]}