Xylopia sahafariensis Cavaco & Keraudren 1956
Creators: name: Johnson, David M.
name: Murray, Nancy A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Magnoliales
Annonaceae
Xylopia
Xylopia sahafariensis

description: 9. Xylopia sahafariensis Cavaco & Keraudren (Fig. 12)
Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 103: 277 (1956). — Type: Madagascar. Prov. Antsiranana [“ Domaine de l’Ouest ”], bassin de la Saharaina, forêt de Sahafary (au S.-E. de Diégo-Suarez), 23.X.1956 (fl.), Capuron 11370 (holo-, P[P030422]!; iso-, OWU!, P[P030423, P030424, P00800918]!; TEF[photo]!).
MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Madagascar. Prov. Antsiranana, Vohemar, Maromokotra, Ankijomantsina, 3 km au S d’Ankijomantsina, 13°07’40”S, 49°27’53”E, 100 m, 30.X.2005 (fl.), Ratovoson et al. 1036 (MO, P[P01954022]); Ampisikina (Ampisikinana), Soatanana, Ambarilao, forêt d’Ampondrabe, 12°57’39”S, 49°42’31”E, 175 m, 5.XI.2005 (fl.), Ratovoson et al. 1067 (MO, P[P06901369]).
DISTRIBUTION, ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION STATUS. — Xylopia sahafariensis occurs only in northeastern Madagascar, in dry deciduous forest at elevations of 100 and 175 m (Fig. 30). Specimens with flowers have been collected in late October and early November. With an EOO and AOO estimated as 853 km 2 and 12 km 2, respectively, it has a preliminary conservation assessment of Endangered (Table 2).
LOCAL NAME. — Taimbarika (Ratovoson et al. 1036).
DESCRIPTION Tree up to 12 m tall; d.b.h. up to 12 cm.
Twigs glabrous or sparsely pubescent, the hairs 0.2-0.3 mm long, soon glabrate; nodes with one or two axillary branches.
Leaves with larger blades 4.9-8.6 cm long, 1.5-3.3 cm wide, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, slightly discolorous, somewhat shining and greenish gray adaxially, dull and light brown abaxially, lanceolate, apex acuminate, the acumen gradual, short, and blunt, attenuate to an obtuse tip, base broadly cuneate to obliquely rounded, short-decurrent on petiole, margin flat, not revolute, glabrous adaxially, glabrous to sparsely appressed-pubescent abaxially; midrib concolorous or light orange-brown toward the base adaxially, secondary veins weakly brochidodromous, 10-13 per side, diverging at 45-75° from midrib, these and higher-or- der veins slightly raised on both surfaces, sometimes forming a conspicuous reticulum; petiole 5.5-8 mm long, flattened and ribbonlike to shallowly canaliculate adaxially, longitudinally or transversely wrinkled, glabrous or with a few hairs.
Inflorescences axillary or from the axils of fallen leaves, 1-2-flowered, pedicels arising separately from leaf axil, sparsely pubescent; peduncle absent; pedicels 2.5-3.2 mm long; 0.6-0.8 mm thick; bracts 2, one bract at or just proximal to the pedicel midpoint and the other subtending the sepals, persistent, 0.8-1.8 mm long, broadly ovate to semicircular; buds lanceolate, apex obtuse.
Sepals slightly spreading at anthesis, ¹⁄5-1/2-connate, 1.4-2.3 mm long, 1.7-3.2 mm wide, coriaceous, broadly ovate to semicircular, apex acute to obtuse, appressed-pubescent abaxially.
Petals yellow in vivo; outer petals spreading at anthesis, 5.6-9.6 (-12 ex protologue) mm long, 2.5-3.4 (-4 ex protologue) mm wide at base, 1.1-2.4 mm wide at midpoint, fleshy, lanceolate, keeled only at apex adaxially, with a faint longitudinal ridge abaxially, apex obtuse, puberulent adaxially, appressed-pubescent abaxially; inner petals probably erect with the apices curved outward at anthesis, 5.3-7 (-10 ex protologue) mm long, 1.6 (-3 ex protologue) mm wide at base, 0.6-1.0 mm wide at midpoint, fleshy, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, weakly keeled toward apex adaxially, slightly keeled abaxially, apex obtuse, base concave with undifferentiated margin, puberulent on both surfaces.
Stamens 80-120; fertile stamens 0.8-1.0 mm long, narrowly oblong, anther connective apex c. 0.1 mm long, truncate, oblong, or bifid, rudimentary, not overhanging anther thecae, glabrous, anthers 9-11-locellate, filament 0.4-0.5 mm long; outer staminodes present or absent, if absent then outermost stamens sometimes with reduced anthers, same length as the fertile stamens, oblong, apex truncate to rounded; inner staminodes absent; staminal cone absent.
Carpels 2-3, c. 2.5 mm long, ovary and stigma merging imperceptibly, oblong to obovoid, glabrous, stigmas linear or slightly spatulate, smooth.
Fruits and seeds unknown.
NOTES
The flowers of Xylopia sahafariensis are superficially similar to those of X. bemarivensis, but the reduced anther connective apices, glabrous carpels, and absence of a staminal cone place it in section Verdcourtia. Xylopia sahafariensis and X. sericolampra are the only species of section Verdcourtia occurring outside of East Africa. All known species in the section are restricted to dry coastal forests.
The type specimen has slightly longer and more abundant hairs on the petals, and the petals, especially the inner ones, are narrower toward the apex, but otherwise the three specimens agree well.
description: Published as part of Johnson, David M. & Murray, Nancy A., 2020, A revision of Xylopia L. (Annonaceae): the species of Madagascar and the Mascarene islands, pp. 1-88 in Adansonia 42 (1) on pages 35-36, DOI: 10.5252/adansonia2020v42a1, http://zenodo.org/record/3877215