Sabdariffa nigricaulis (Baker f.) Mwachala & R.L.Barrett, 2025

Sabdariffa nigricaulis (Baker f.) Mwachala & R.L.Barrett View in CoL , comb. nov.

( Fig. 23 a, b View Fig .)

Hibiscus nigricaulis Baker f., J. Bot. View in CoL 77: 19–20 (1939). Type: Angola: Bié: between Coemba and River Cuanza, ~ 1300 m, 7 May 1937, A.W. Exell & F. A . Mendonça 1759 (lecto, here designated: BM 000554469 ; isolecto: BM 000554470 , COI 00005094 About COI ) .

Hibiscus meeusei Exell View in CoL , Bol . Soc. Brot., ser. 2, 33: 165 (1959). Type: South Africa: Transvaal , Bronkhorstspruit, 19 Mar. 1959, A.D.J. Meeuse 10646 (holo: BM 000645544 ; iso: G, NY 221748 , P 00389348 , PRE 0659511 About PRE -0, PRE 0285043 About PRE -0, W 1960-0023394 ).

Typification

Although Baker (1939, p. 20) cited ‘ Type in Herb. Mus. Brit.’, there are two sheets of Hibiscus nigricaulis at BM, therefore we here designate BM 000554469 as lectotype as this has the most material on the sheet .

Descriptions and illustrations

Baker (1939, pp. 19–20); Exell (1959, p. 165); Hauman (1963, p. 110); Merxmüller (1969, p. 82:14, 20); Edmonds (1991, fig. 1(11); 2(31)); Wilson (1999, pp. 60–61, fig. 1e); Leistner (2008, p. 115); Heath and Heath (2009, p. 285, fig.); Bredenkamp (2019, pp. 1205–1206); Hyde et al. (2024, fig.).

Distribution

Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of The Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia (Caprivi), South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Notes

Although there is some variation in leaf shape and density of aculei on the calyx across the range of S. nigricaulis , we consider the type of H. meeusei to fall within this variation.