Cyathula fernando-poensis Suess. & Friedrich

Cyathula fernando-poensis Suess. & Friedrich View in CoL , Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 1 (6): 188 (1953).

Holotype.

Equatorial Guinea, Fernando Po [Bioko] Island, El Pico , 7000 ft [2133 m], in forest, 10 Dec 1951, A. S. Boughey 123 ( K 000243618 ).

Note.

The type designation for this species name is ambiguous. Suessenguth (1953) stated that the type was collected at an elevation of 7000 ft [2133 m]. and cited two collection numbers, Boughey 123 and 124, but only the former agrees with the stated elevation and is labelled as type at K. We therefore assume that the added citation of the collection number 124 was a technical error that does not affect the type designation.

Description.

Perennial herbs up to 60 cm high, rooting at nodes; leaves short-petiolate (petioles up to 10 mm long), rhombic, obovate or elliptic, 30–60 × 20–30 mm, hairy, upper leaves ± distant from the inflorescence, hairs on leaves articulated, 0.5–1.1 mm long; bracts persisting on the florescence axis, ovate, 2.0–3.0 mm long, short to long acuminate, glabrous or ± setose; main florescence (15) 20–60 cm long, dense or slightly interrupted basally, with shorter paracladia; cymes (Fig. 2 D View Figure 2 ) shortly pedicellate (pedicels 0.5–1.0 mm long), symmetric, with two mucronulate or slightly hooked, equal, indistinctly keeled first-ordered bracteoles (br 1: Fig. 3 C View Figure 3 ) 2.0–3.0 mm long and fertile flower in between (fertile part) and mostly two sterile parts located in the axils of br 1 on both sides of the fertile flower, sometimes only one sterile part is present in a cyme and, thus, the cyme is asymmetric; paired second-ordered bracteoles (br 2) of the sterile parts hyaline, glabrous, short (2.5–3.0 mm), not exceeding the fertile flower, uncinate, with minor two hooks (br 3) in their axils, sterile part consisting of a sterile flower with five apically recurved or straight segments: two outer segments of 4.0 mm long and three inner smaller (3.0 mm long) segments; all larger hooks (br 2) ± equal to length of perianth of fertile flower; perianth segments of fertile flower 5, 5.5– 5.5 mm long, glabrous or ± pubescent only basally, each segment with prominent mid-rib and two indistinct lateral veins; pseudostaminodes 1.0– 1.2 mm long; anthers 0.4–0.5 mm long; style (with capitate stigma) 0.7–0.9 mm long; fruit (without style) 2.0–2.2 (3.0) mm long; seed coat brown, thin; radicle pointing upwards.

Note.

Suessenguth & Friedrich in Suessenguth (1953) described the species, based on three examined specimens. Having examined the subsequent collections from Cameroon, we can improve the description of C. fernando-poensis . For example, Suessenguth & Friedrich in Suessenguth (1953) indicated that there are only two hooks in a sterile flower. However, the number of hooks in a cyme can vary from 2 to 8. Two hooks are present if there is only one sterile part in a cyme and no other additional hooks are present in the bract axil.

Habitat.

(Sub) mountain forests at elevations of 1300–2800 m a. s. l.

IUCN category.

In Cameroon, C. fernando-poensis was first assessed as Vulnerable (Darbyshire in Cheek et al. (2004); Onana and Cheek 2011). Nevertheless, Onana and Cheek (2011) indicated that the forests of the South-West Region of Cameroon and Bioko over 1000 m a. s. l. were, at that time, under minimal anthropogenic pressure. Later, the conservation status of C. fernando-poensis in Cameroon was changed to Endangered ( Cheek 2014), because the populations are under great pressure of clearance for agriculture and this threat occurs across the whole range and even inside areas that are designated as “ protected ”. However, at that time, the existence of the population in North-West Region (where it has been most frequently collected) was unknown due to misidentification. There are no data on the abundance of the species in Bioko Island ( Velayos et al. 2013).

Distribution

(Fig. 10 View Figure 10 ). Equatorial Guinea: Fernando Po [Bioko] Island, El Pico, 6600 ft [2012 m], in forest, darker variety of [the specimen number] 123, 10 Dec 1951, A. S. Boughey 135 ( K 000518886).

Cameroon: South-West Prov., Mount Kupe, Max’s trail leading from Nyasoso to summit of Mt. Kupe, 4°48'N, 9°41'E, 1550 m a. s. l., closed canopy submontane forest on fertile micro-aggregated humic cambisol, 22 Nov 1994, P. Lane 242 ( K 000086531, SCA, YA); North-West Region, Bui Dept., Elak, 2200 m a. s. l., montane forest, 9 Jun 1996, S. Cable & al. 2964 ( K, MW, YA); North-West Region, Bui Dept., Elak, Mt. Oku, 2500 m a. s. l., montane forest, 9 Jun 1996, L. Zapfack 800 ( BR, K 001900912, MW, SCA, YA); North-West Region, Bui Dept., Elak, 2250 m a. s. l., montane forest, 9 Jun 1996, S. Cable 2975 ( K 001900914, MW, YA); North-West Region, Bui Dept., Oku-Elak, 6.1349°N, 10.3112°E, 2200 m a. s. l., lower parts of transect KA, 28 Oct 1996, M. Cheek 8491 ( K 001900858, MW, YA); North-West Region, Bui Dept., Elak-Oku, 6.15°N, 10.26°E, 2500 m a. s. l., K. A path, 29 Oct 1996, J. M. Onana 460 ( K 001900862, MW, WAG); North-West Region, Bui Dept., Elak, 2800 m a. s. l., 6.1349°N, 10.3112°E, grassland, 30 Oct 1996, M. Cheek & al. 8519 ( K 001900859, MW); North-West Region, Bui Dept., Oku-Elak, 2600 m a. s. l., Transect KA, mountain slope, open forest, 31 Oct 1996, M. Buzgo, 689 ( BR, K 001900860, MW, YA); South-West Prov., Kupe-Muanenguba Division, Kodmin, 5°00'00"N, 9°41'11"E, alt. 1330 m a. s. l., montane / submontane evergreen forest, road to Mwanzum and Nyale, 8 Dec 1999, M. Cheek & al. 10269 ( K 000051086, K 000051088).

General distribution.

For a long time, this species was considered endemic to Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea ( Exell 1973; Brenan 1978). In the 1990 s, C. fernando-poensis was also discovered at Mt Kupe and the Bakossi Mts of South-West Region in Cameroon ( Cheek et al. 2004). However, the records from North-West Region were until now misidentified as Achyranthes aspera L. ( Cheek et al. 2000).

Remark.

Cyathula geminata and C. fernando-poensis are both present in Bioko Island and Cameroon. They differ in morphology and altitudinal preferences. Cyathula geminata is a typical component of drier tropical rainforests, up to an upper altitudinal limit of 1200 m a. s. l., while C. fernando-poensis is found in the mountain rainforests. Further, in Cameroon, C. geminata is not recorded from the high rainfall forests of SW Region (e. g. Cable and Cheek (1998)), but only in the lower rainfall, often semi-deciduous forest areas of Central, West and South Regions (e. g. Cheek et al. 2011), albeit misidentified as a variant of C. prostrata ( L.) Blume.