Palisota Bidault & Burg 2019
Creators: name: Bidault, Ehoarn
name: Burg, Willem Joost van der
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Commelinales
Commelinaceae
Palisota

description: Key to the species of Palisota in Atlantic Central Africa
1. Plants creeping, decumbent, or forming a rosette ........ 2
1a. Plants with an erect stem at least 50 cm tall ................ 3
2. Plants generally rosettes (solitary or multiple aggregated), occasionnally with a stem up to 10(–30) cm long, sometimes horizontal on older individuals .......................... 9
2a. Plants strictly creeping or decumbent ....................... 16
Species erect, stem at least 50 cm high
3. Climbing herb up to 15 m, branched; sheaths generally with stiff, rusty trichomes; inflorescences lax, up to 30 cm long; flowers white or pale violet; fruits at first white, then waxy, blue, violet to black when ripe ............ P. thollonii
3a. Herbs not climbing, in general not taller than 4 m ..... 4
4. Inflorescences lax ......................................................... 5
4a. Inflorescences subglobose to spadiciform .................... 7
5. Inflorescences comprising swollen cincinni, generally erect when fruiting; fruits white with apical purple stripes, turning completely dark purple at maturity, waxy, narrowly obovoid ............................................ P. ambigua
5a. Inflorescences with spreading and unswollen cincinni; fruits spherical, not purple at maturity ........................ 6
6. Inflorescences more than 1 per terminal verticil, cylindrical, elongated, up to (12–) 20–40 cm long, comprising 50–100 cincinni; sepals white, petals white with pink to purple spots; fruits purple tinted with red, turning dark blue to black at maturity, waxy (Guineo-Congolian) ...... ........................................................................ P. hirsuta
6a. Inflorescence solitary at the terminal verticil, spiciform, conical, up to 18(–25) cm long, comprising 20– 30 cincinni; sepals and petals white to pale violet, flowers all erect on pedicels 1(–2) cm long, each cincinnus forming a unilateral raceme; fruits white turning orange to red at maturity (São Tomé, Annobón) ................. P. pedicellata
7. Inflorescence more or less subglobose to slightly longer then wide, up to 3.5 cm long, generally 1 per verticil; cincinni erect and swollen; fruits bright red when mature ... ............................................................... P. brachythyrsa
7a. Inflorescence spadiciform ............................................ 8
8. Inflorescence 20–30 × 3–4(–5.5) cm ... P. schweinfurthii
8a. Inflorescences generally smaller, 10–20 × 2–4 cm .......... ................................................................... P. alopecurus
Species in rosette or basal composed rosettes
9. Inflorescences flagelliform, occasionally stoloniferous, up to 2 m long, comprising one to several erect thyrsi, each with one opposed bract and a single sessile cincinnus (Cameroon) ............................................. P. flagelliflora
9a. Inflorescences not flagelliform, comprising a single thyrse bearing multiple cincinni ........................................... 10
10. Inflorescences covered by abundant white grayish woolly pubescence; fruits carmine red, densely rusty to brown pubescent ....................................................... P. lagopus
10a. Inflorescences lacking white grayish woolly pubescence; fruits glabrous or with a few sparse trichomes ........... 11
11. Inflorescences spadiciform .............................. P. mannii
11a. Inflorescences subglobose to oblong .......................... 12
12. Inflorescences with a persistent oval, leafy bract 5–15 mm wide, at least as long as the flowers, subtending each cincinnus, evident, enclosing the inflorescence .................... ..................................................................... P. bracteosa
12a. Bracts less than 4 mm wide, shorter than the flowers, barely visible at anthesis, not enclosing the inflorescence ................................................................................... 13
13. Inflorescences terminal (located centrally in the rosette), erect ................................................................ P. barteri
13a. Inflorescences axillary, decumbent ............................. 14
14. Leaves to 12 –15 cm long, with patent-pilose indument on the upper surface of the blade; inflorescences 1.5–7 cm long, lower stamen bearded; fruits dull yellow-brown, hidden below the leaf litter ................................... P. ebo
14a. Leaves 15– 40 cm long, glabrous on the upper surface of the blade; inflorescences 4–14 cm long, lower stamen unbearded; fruits red, borne above the leaf litter ........ 15
15. Flowers white, with 3 subequal, yellow stamens; leaves to ± 20 cm long .................................................. P. bogneri
15a. Flowers pink to purple or violet, with 3 unequal stamens, the upper 2 yellow, the lower one white, more robust; leaves to 40 cm long ............................ 2. P. alboanthera
Species strictly creeping or decumbent
16. Inflorescences terminal .............................................. 17
16a. Inflorescences axillary ................................................ 20
17. Inflorescences subglobose, cincinni erect in fruit ............ .................................................................... 4. P. fadenii
17a. Inflorescences spadiciform, cincinni not erect in fruit .... ................................................................................... 18
18. Inflorescences forming a lax elongated thyrse, white woolly pubescent throughout, bracts white, longer than the flowers ................................................ 8. P. stevartii
18a. Inflorescences robust, lacking white woolly pubescence, bracts shorter than the flowers .................................. 19
19. Nodes covered by grayish pubescence, leaves glabrous except along the midrib; inflorescences with non-glandular trichomes, flowers mostly white (Cameroon, Bioko) .................................................................. P. preussiana
19a. Nodes covered with rusty pubescence, leaves with erect pubescence; inflorescences covered by short glandular trichomes; flowers purple (Gabon) ..................................... .......................................... [sp. nov. Faden] (cf. p. 200)
20. Inflorescences mostly erect, rarely pendulous, even in fruit ................................................................................... 21
20a. Inflorescences decumbent, never erect ....................... 23
21. Plant covered on most parts with rusty to ginger-color, simple, erect trichomes .......................... 3. P. cristalensis
21a. Plant not covered by rusty to ginger-color, simple, erect trichomes ................................................................... 22
22. L eaves plicate, obovate to spathulate, 16 – 31 × (3.5–) 5.5–10 cm, the base long-decurrent .... 6. P. plicata
22a. Leaves not plicate, narrowly obovate to obovate-elliptic, 7–13 × 3.5–4.5 cm, the base cuneate ....... 5. P. leewhitei
23. Creeping herbs to 2 m long; leaves regularly inserted all along the creeping, sometimes branched stem ................ ..................................................................... 7. P. repens
23a. Creeping herb never exceeding 40 cm long, apical portion of stems erect; leaves borne in pseudowhorls on the aerial portion of the stem .................................................... 24
24. Inflorescences branched, decumbent, with 1 cincinnus per branch (Cameroon) ....................................... P. satabiei
24a. Inflorescences decumbent, never branched, forming a thyrse with multiple cincinni ..................................... 25
25. Creeping herb never exceeding 40 cm long, apical portion of stems erect, to 20 cm tall; inflorescences inserted on the aerial portion of the stem, flowers with 3 unequal stamens, the lower one more robust, becoming green after dehiscence of the pollen sacs ....................... 1. P. akouangoui
25a. Plant generally forming a rosette, without an erect stem, or stem occasionally elongated and horizontal on the older plants; inflorescences inserted at ground level, flowers with 3 subequal, yellow stamens ........ P. bogneri
description: Published as part of Bidault, Ehoarn & Burg, Willem Joost van der, 2019, Novitates Gabonenses 90: Palisota (Commelinaceae) revisited: description of eight new species from Central Africa and notes on the identity of P. satabiei and P. bogneri, pp. 169-202 in Candollea 74 (2) on pages 175-176, DOI: 10.15553/c2019v742a7, http://zenodo.org/record/5724714