Barleria sceptrum-katanganum Champl
Creators: name: Champluvier, Dominique
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Lamiales
Acanthaceae
Barleria
Barleria sceptrum-Katanganum

description: <i>Barleria sceptrum-katanganum</i> Champl., <b>sp. nov.</b> <i>Barleria velutinae</i> affinis sed propter habitum robustiorem, caulem rectam largiorem, spicam longiorem, bracteas foliaceas magnas calyces occultantes et corollam lobis superis semper praesentibus vel majoribus, foliaque majora bene differt. – Type: D.R.Congo, District du Haut-Katanga, Dubié, Jun. 1956, <i>Duvigneaud</i> 3676 Ac3, fl (holo-: BRLU; iso-: BR, K). Suffrutex 25–60 cm high with a thick woody rootstock; stems erect, robust, 3–6 mm in diameter, densely and antrorsely yellowish-hairy. Leaves subsessile; lamina narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, acute at the tip, cuneate to subrounded at the base, densely and softly adpressed-hairy below, scabridulous above, 5.5–12.5 × 1.8–3 cm, 3.5 × 0.8 cm on young resprouting shoots; (4–)6–9 lateral nerves, all nerves prominent below, inconspicuous above. Inflorescence a terminal dense subcylindrical spike 4–15 × 3.5–5 cm (up to 7 cm wide at the base in fruits), with imbricate foliar bracts hiding the calyces; bracts narrowly elliptic, similar to the leaves but smaller, 2.5–4 × 0.6–1.5 cm; bracteoles smaller and narrower, tri-parallelinerved; calyx with posterior and anterior lobes similar but the anterior one slightly shorter and sometimes emarginate, both elliptic to widely ovate, irregularly and coarsely toothed in the upper 2/3 to 3/4 of their length, 2–2.5 × 1.4–2 cm, densely and softly adpressed hairy on both faces; corolla white, fading pale blue, 4–4.5 cm long, tube 2.5–3.3 cm long, subcylindrical, a bit narrowed at 10–14 mm high; limb with two upper lobes almost twice smaller than the three lower ones; upper lobes elliptic-oblong, 10–11 × 4–5 mm, rounded at the tip; lower lobes obovate, rounded and mucronate at the tip, the median one 17 × 14 mm, the lateral ones 17 × 11 mm; filament of stamens shortly and sparsely hairy at the base, filament of the two fertile stamens 12.5 mm long, anthers 2.8 mm long; three staminodes, the median with a filament 2 mm long, the two lateral ones with a filament 3.5 mm long, all bearing reduced anther with one theca 1 mm long and the other very tiny, but both types of thecae containing apparently well developed pollen grains; style about 3 cm long, glabrous, stigma short, infundibuliform. Capsule glabrous, rather shiny, brown to black, 17–20 × 5–6 mm, normally 4-seeded, but containing only two mature seeds, with in addition one very reduced, not matured seed and one completely aborted. Seeds oblong, 8 × 5 m, with hygroscopic hairs at the margin. Fig. 5. <b>Distribution</b> – Species of the Zambezian centre of endemism. Fig. 6. <b>Other collections examined – D.R.Congo. District du Haut-Katanga</b>: Rivière Lofoi, 1891, <i>Descamps</i> s.n., fl (BR); colline Lusanga, Jun. 1954, <i>Desenfans</i> 6375 (BRLU); 25 km W de Kasenga, s.d., <i>Duvigneaud</i> 1395, fr (BRLU); Mitwaba–Kimbo, 1956, <i>Duvigneaud</i> 2742, fr (BRLU, BR); Fungurume, alt. 1165 m, Apr. 1940, <i>Quarré</i> 6375, fl (BR). <b>Zambia</b>: Kitwe, Mar. 1964, <i>Mutimushi</i> 674, fl, young fr (K). <b>Habitat</b> – <i>Brachystegia bussei</i> or <i>Brachystegia utilis­ Monotes</i> woodland, <i>Pseudoberlinia</i> woodland around 1150 m (D.R.Congo); museshi woodland (Zambia).
description: Published as part of <i>Dominique Champluvier, 2011, New and overlooked Acanthaceae taxa from D. R. Congo, Rwanda and Burundi: (1) the genus Barleria, pp. 82-95 in Plant Ecology and Evolution 144 (1)</i> on pages 87-89, DOI: 10.5091/plecevo.2011.388, http://zenodo.org/record/1486150