Dracaena bicolor Hook.

3. Dracaena bicolor Hook. View in CoL — Map 3 View Map 3

Dracaena bicolor Hook. (1861) t. 5248. — Lectotype (designated by Bos 1984): Hort. Kew s.n. (lecto K [ K000099865 ]; isolecto K [ K000099866 ]), culta (ex G. Mann s.n., Equatorial Guinea, Fernando Po), Feb. 1861.

Dracaena talbotii Rendle (1913) View in CoL 112. — Lectotype (designated by Bos 1984): Talbot 1532 (lecto BM [BM000911624];isolecto BM [BM000911623],K (2 ×), WAG-spirit), Nigeria, Oban, 1912, syn. nov.

Dracaena densifolia Baker (1874) View in CoL 165. — Lectotype (designated by Hepper 1968a): Mann 1037 (lecto K [K000099863]), Gabon, Gaboon River, 1861, syn. nov.

Dracaena densiflora Baker (1875) 535 ‘ densifolia View in CoL ’.

Distribution — Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ga- bon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Notes — In the protologue, Hooker (1861) described the inflorescence of D. bicolor s.str. as a dense spicate-capitate compound raceme. Hepper (1968b) stated it is a shortly cy- lindrical, very dense spike, while according to Bos (1984) the inflorescence is subcapitate to thyrsoid. The inflorescence of D. bicolor s.lat. has several (4–10) dense clusters of c. 20 flow- ers forming a compact bracteate subcapitate inflorescence of up to 26 cm long. Further anatomic study might reveal that it has a thyrsoid structure, similar to that in Sansevieria ( Budweg 2016) . Dracaena talbotii was described from a plant with the same inflorescence type as in D. bicolor , but with narrow leaves. We have observed leaf shape to be highly variable within D. bicolor (for example the collection Bos 4160 represents two distinct leaf forms collected from the same plant before and after it fell down and re-sprouted), reason why we do not recognise this form as a distinct taxon. Dracaena densifolia represents a form of D. bicolor with a more open inflorescence, but otherwise, including flower size, fits well within the range of D. bicolor .