Trichoscypha rubicunda Lecomte

18. Trichoscypha rubicunda Lecomte View in CoL

Bull. Soc. Bot. France 52: 656 (1906).

— Type: Klaine 251, Gabon, near Libreville, ♂, ♀ fl. July (holo-, P; iso-, WAG!). See Notes.

Trichoscypha africana Lecomte , Bull. Soc. Bot. France 5: 652 (1906). — Type: Klaine 1086 (as 1080), Gabon, near Libreville, ♂ fl. Sep. (holo-, P!; iso-, WAG!).

Trichoscypha fusca Lecomte , Bull. Soc. Bot. France 5: 652 (1906).

— Type: Klaine 1444, Gabon, near Libreville, fr. Nov. (lecto-, designated here P!; isolecto-, WAG!).

Trichoscypha klainei Lecomte , Bull. Soc. Bot. France 52: 651 (1906). — Type: Klaine 3009, Gabon, near Libreville, ♂ fl. July (holo-, P!; iso-, WAG!).

Trichoscypha escherichii Engl. , Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 54: 315 (1917). — Syntypes: Escherich 336, 339, Munigebiet , Neu-Kamerun (now Gabon), Bissubinam, fl. July 1913 (syn-, B, delet.). Neotype (designated here): Eneme 471, Equatorial Guinea, Jandye, ♂ fl. July 1999 ( WAG!; iso-, BRLU!).

Trichoscypha braunii Engl. var. regularis H. Lecomte , nomen, coll. Thollon 1114 (P!).

Shrub to medium sized tree, 1.5-26 m tall and trunk up to 25 cm dbh. Leaves (4-)5-12-jugate; leaflets ovate-lanceolate to oblong, up to c. 5 times as long as wide, (11-)17-25(-35) × (3-)5- 7(-11) cm, with a 1-2 cm long acumen; midrib impressed above; lateral nerves 12-20 pairs. Inflorescence (sub)terminal to axillary, rarely borne below the leaves, the male ones up to at least 70 cm long, the female ones up to 110 cm long, pubescent to puberulous, often also with a more or less patchy, whitish arachnoid or moldlike indumentum. Flowers (Jan.-Apr., June-Sep.) 4-5-merous, pink to red. Fruits (Feb., Sep.-Nov.) red, ovoid-ellipsoid, 1.5-2 × 1-1.5 cm, appressedshort-hairy, usually also with a whitish, arachnoid to mold-like indumentum. — Figs 2G View FIG ; 10 View FIG ; 14. View FIG

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION. — Rain forest of Cameroun, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo (Brazzaville). Alt. up to 1200 m.

SELECTED SPECIMENS. — CAMEROUN: Bos 6797, 17 km N of Kribi, fl. Apr. (WAG!) ; Cable et al. 1573, Etinde, fl. Mar. (K!) ; Elad 135, Kupé Mt., Nyasso, fl. Mar. (K!) ; Elad & Tchouto 1360, Campo-Ma’an area, Mvini, fr. Feb. (WAG!) ; Van Andel et al. 4172, Elephant Mt., fr. Oct. (WAG!). — CONGO (Brazzaville): Aké-Assi 17049, Itsibou valley, fl. July (G!) ; de Foresta 1038, between Mvouti and Bamba Mt., fl. July (P!). — EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Eneme 471, Yandye, fl. July (BRLU!, WAG!). — GABON: N. Hallé 3159, Bélinga, fr. Nov. (P!) ; Klaine 251, near Libreville, fl. July (P!, WAG!) ; Klaine 1086, near Libreville, fl. Sep. (P!, WAG!) ; Le Testu 1584, Midounga, fl. Aug. (BM!, BR!, P!, WAG!) ; Le Testu 5468, Mouila, fl. July (BM!, BR!, P!, WAG!) ; Le Testu 8848, Pougou Matsima, fl. June (BM!, P!) ; Reitsma et al. 862, Oveng, juv. fr. May (BR!, MO!, WAG!) ; Walker s.n., St. Martin, fl. July (P!, WAG!).

NOTES. — Klaine 251, the type of Trichoscypha rubicunda contains, male as well as female flowers. It is not clear whether flowers of both sexes were collected from the same individual, probably not, as they are found on different branches.

A few specimens assigned to this species have inflorescences borne on the leafy shoot as well as on the trunk, e.g., de Foresta 1038 and Le Testu 1584, a phenomenon that also occurs occasionally in the other non cauliflorous species.

The variation in habit seen in T. rubicunda is remarkable. Flowers and/or fruits have been collected from small shrubs as well as from medium sized trees of 25 m tall. In most species of Trichoscypha with variation in habit this differs somewhat, involving the presence of a lianescent habit along with shrubs or trees (see also under T. reygaertii ).