Piptostigma mortehanii De Wild., Bull. Jard. Bot. Etat Bruxelles 4: 383 1914
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
Piptostigma
Piptostigma mortehanii

description: Piptostigma mortehanii De Wild., Bull. Jard. Bot. État Bruxelles 4: 383, 1914 Figs 90, 92; Map 11G = Piptostigma fouryi Pellegr., Notul. Syst. (Paris) 14: 75, 1950. Type. Cameroon. Central Region, Otottomo forest reserve, near Yaoundé, <i>Foury P. 73</i>, 1935: holotype: P[P00363302]. = Piptostigma mortehanii De Wild. var. Piptostigma mortehanii pilosa Sillans, Rev. Int. Bot. Appl. Agric. Trop. 33: 554, 1953. Type. Central African Republic: Lobaye, Oubangui, Région de Boukoko, <i>Tisserant C. 2335</i>, 9 Jan 1952: holotype: P[P00363279]; isotypes: P[P00363278, P00363280]. = Piptostigma longipilosum Mildb. &amp; Diels ex. Engl. var. subnudum Tisserant, Not. syst. 15: 327, 1953. Type. Central African Republic: Lobaye, Oubangui, Région de Boukoko, <i>Tisserant C. 2335</i>, 9 Jan 1952: holotype: P[P00363279]; isotypes: P[P00363278, P00363280]. Type. Democratic Republic of the Congo. Equateur; Dundusana, <i>Mortehan M.G. 626</i>, Oct 1913: lectotype, sheet here designated: BR[BR0000008802118]; isotype: BR[BR0000008802798]. Description. Tree, 8-10 m tall, d.b.h. 18 cm; stilt roots or buttresses absent, trunk funneled. Indumentum of simple hairs; old leafless branches glabrous, <b>young foliate branches pubescent to hirsute, hairs to 2 mm long</b>. Leaves: petiole 3-4 mm long, 2-3 mm in diameter, <b>hirsute</b>, cylindrical, blade inserted on top of the petiole; blade 11.5-20.1 cm long, 3-12.5 cm wide, obovate, apex acuminate, acumen 0.2-0.6 cm long, base acute, papyraceous, below sparsely pubescent when young and old, above pubescent when young, glabrous when old, discolorous, whitish below; midrib impressed, above pubescent when young and old, <b>below densely pubescent to tomentose when young and old</b>; secondary veins 24 to 34 pairs, sparsely pubescent above; tertiary venation percurrent. Individuals bisexual; inflorescence cauliflorous, peduncle like base 18-30 mm long, axial internodes 10-105 mm long, lax to panicle-like, <b>sympodial rachis 40-320 mm long</b>. Flowers with 9 perianth parts in 3 whorls, 2 to 8 per inflorescence; pedicel 5-8 mm long, ca. 2 mm in diameter, pubescent; in fruit 10-15 mm long, ca. 3 mm in diameter, pubescent; basal bract ca. 6 mm long, ca. 4 mm wide; upper bract ca. 6 mm long, ca. 4 mm wide; sepals 3, valvate, free, 4-5 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, ovate, apex acute, base truncate, brown, pubescent outside, glabrous inside, margins flat; petals free, outer petals shorter than inner; outer petals 3, 8-9 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, ovate, apex acute, base truncate, yellow, margins flat, pubescent outside, glabrous to pubescent, base glabrous inside; inner petals 3, valvate, 15-20 mm long, 4-7 mm wide, elliptic, apex acute, base truncate, greenish yellow, margins wavy, pubescent outside, tomentose inside; stamens 40, in 6 to 7 rows, ca. 2 mm long, broad; connective discoid, glabrous, red; staminodes absent; carpels free, 4 to 5, ovary ca. 2 mm long, stigma lobed, pubescent. Monocarps sessile, 1 to 2, 18-23 mm long, ca. 18 mm in diameter, ellipsoid, <b>apex mucronate or rounded, pubescent to tomentose</b>, <b>verrucose, irregularly ribbed, white pink turning wine red to dark sepia when ripe</b>; seeds 2 to 8 per monocarp, ca. 12 mm long, ca. 15 mm in diameter, ellipsoid; aril absent. Distribution. From Cameroon to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one specimen from Ghana and two from Gabon; in Cameroon known from the South, Central, Littoral and South-West regions. Habitat. A common species when present; in lowland rain forest understory, often on inundated or swampy soils and along rivers. Altitude 30-700 m a.s.l. Local and common names known in Cameroon. None recorded. IUCN conservation status. Least Concern (LC) (Cosiaux et al. 2019a n). Uses in Cameroon. None reported. Notes. <i>Piptostigma mortehanii</i> is easily distinguished by its densely pubescent or tomentose midrib and secondary veins on the lower side of the leaf blade, which sometimes has a brownish aspect like <i>P. calophyllum</i>. In some specimens, the hairs on the petiole and young foliate branches are long and hispid (i.e. the type specimen of <i>Piptostigma fouryi</i>), resembling <i>P. longepilosum</i>, but in the later species these hairs are significantly longer (1 mm vs. more than 4 mm). In addition, the leaf blade base of the latter is rounded while in <i>P. mortehanii</i> it is acute. <i>Piptostigma mortehanii</i> produces the longest inflorescences of the genus, which can be to up 2.7 m long with axial internodes up to 10.5 cm. However, this is quite variable within the species, and the inflorescence ranges from compact to panicle-like. Specimens examined. <b>Central Region</b>: Ottotomo Forest Reserve 3 km after reserve base near small loggers road, 3.66°N, 11.28°E, <i>02 May 2013</i>, <i>Couvreur T.L.P.</i> 436 (WAG,YA); Ottotomo Forest Reserve 45 km South of Yaoundé 5 km on path into reserve, 3.65°N, 11.32°E, <i>15 January 2015</i>, <i>Couvreur T.L.P.</i> 667 (WAG,YA); Yaoundé, 3.87°N, 11.52°E, <i>01 January 1935</i>, <i>Foury P.</i> 73 (P); Route vétère (Likouk-Likoundji), 3.48°N, 10.32°E, <i>14 January 1974</i>, <i>Mezili P.</i> 250 (P,WAG,YA). <b>Littoral Region</b>: Ca 40 km NW of Eséka on the other border of Kele River W of Yaoundé, 3.82°N, 10.48°E, <i>13 December 1963</i>, <i>de Wilde W.J.J.O</i> 1476 (B,BR,MO,P,WAG,YA). <b>South-West Region</b>: Boa, 4.62°N, 9.3°E, <i>03 May 1994</i>, <i>Ndam N.</i> 1205 (K); Korup National Park, 4.98°N, 8.85°E, <i>01 April 1979</i>, <i>Thomas D.W.</i> 1110 (K).
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 297-299, 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", "Cosiaux, A, Couvreur, TLP, Erkens, RHJ, 2019a. Annickia affinis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T132512369A132513599. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T132512369A132513599.en"]}