Justicia virgultorum (S.Moore) I.Darbysh. & Goyder, 2019

12. Justicia virgultorum (S.Moore) I.Darbysh. & Goyder View in CoL , comb. nov. — Fig. 2f View Fig

Monechma virgultorum S.Moore in J.Bot. 49 (1911) 311;S. Moore (1930) 138. — Type: Gossweiler 3679 (holo BM [ BM000923667 ]), Angola, Cuando Cubango , Cassuango, Cuiriri, fl., 26 March 1906.

Monechma carrissoi Benoist (1950) View in CoL 30, syn. nov. — Type: Carrisso & Sousa 113 (holo COI [not seen],?†]; iso BM [ BM001252126 ]), Angola, Benguela, Huambo [Nova Lisboa], fl., 18 May 1937.

Distribution & Ecology — Justicia virgultorum is endemic to Angola, where it is recorded from Bié, Huambo, Huíla and probably (fide Barbosa & Correia 9051) Benguela provinces. It is recorded from dry short grassland and shrubland (‘anharas’) and from open miombo woodland of Julbernardia and Brachystegia .

Additional Angolan specimens seen. Angola, Hundt 907 ( BM, 2 sheets), Benguela,zwischen Ganda und Caconda, Facenda Xangorolo ,fl., Apr.1934 ; Barbosa & Correia 9051 ( BM, K), Huíla, Capelongo [Vila Artur de Paiva], a 26 km desta, em direcção ao Dongo , fl., 10 Apr. 1960 ; Bamps, Raimundo & Matos 4007 ( LISC *), Huambo [Nova Lisboa] - Caála , fl., 6 Mar. 1973 ; Maiato FM 897 (139013) ( K, LUBA), Bié, Cusseque study area, Chitembo , fl., 19 Mar. 2013 ; Goyder 8471 ( INBAC, K, LUBA, PRE), Bié, near Linhunga R., Cubango drainage, fl., 14 Mar. 2016 ; Frisby & Maiato 4151 ( K, LUBA, PRE), Huambo, Cubango R. rapids 75 km ESE of Huambo on Catchiungo – Kuvango ( Capelongo ) road, in bud, 9 May 2017 ; Frisby & Maiato 4183 ( K, LUBA, PRE), Huambo, near Cubango River rapids 75 km ESE of Huambo on Catchiungo – Kuvango ( Capelongo ) road, fr., 10 May 2017 .

Notes — This species is allied to J. moorei (see above) from Angola, and P.G. Meyer noted on the BM sheets that they are scarcely distinct. However, the current study finds that they clearly differ in the characters listed in the key; see also Fig. 2d–f View Fig for comparison of these species. The type of Monechma carrissoi is clearly a specimen of J. virgultorum but it has shorter calyx lobes (7 mm long) and bracts (c. 6 mm) than typical; this is most probably an immature or depauperate specimen.

The K sheet of Barbosa & Correia 9051 is numbered ‘ 9051a ’ but the collecting details are the same as on the BM sheet.