Justicia

JUSTICIA SECT. MONECHMA ‘GROUP I’ IN ANGOLA

Makholela (2008) recorded 10 species of Monechma in Angola. Of these, M. cleomoides (S.Moore) C.B.Clarke , M. divaricatum (Nees) C.B.Clarke and M. salsola (S.Moore) C.B.Clarke are considered to belong to Monechma Group II sensu Kiel et al. (2017), based on the sessile axillary cymes with the bracts largely undifferentiated from the leaves. Monechma divaricatum was one of the two species sampled within this clade in the phylogeny of Kiel et al. (2017). The extant material of M. spissum C.B.Clarke is depauperate and requires further investigation; it may be a small form of one of the other recognised species. The remaining six species recorded by Makholela (2008) are here considered to belong to Monechma Group I sensu Kiel et al. (2017). However, several changes and additions to Makholela’s list are required. First, we follow Vollesen (2010, 2015) in recognising several species within the ‘ Monechma debile (Forssk.) Nees’ complex, of which two are recorded from Angola: Justicia bracteata and J. monechmoides S.Moore. Second, Makholela (2008) recorded M. depauperatum (T.Anderson) C.B.Clarke (= J. depauperata T.Anderson ) as occurring in Angola but we recognise J. scabrida S.Moore as distinct from that species and only the latter occurs in Angola ( Vollesen 2015). Third, J. subsessilis Oliv. has recently been recorded for the first time in Angola – see below. Finally, J. laeta S.Moore , also endemic to Angola, is here included in this lineage for the first time, and a second species allied to J. laeta is also recognised here, based on Nolde 229 from Malange province.

Therefore, with the addition of the new species J. cubangensis and J. eriniae , twelve species of Justicia sect. Monechma Group I are currently known from Angola and a provisional key to these species is provided here to aid their identification. A summary of our current knowledge of each of these species in Angola is also provided below, including citation of all specimens seen. No existing combinations in Justicia are available for three Angolan endemic species: M. glaucifolium S.Moore , M. rigidum S.Moore and M. virgultorum S.Moore ; the new combinations (or, in the case of M. rigidum , a new name) are therefore formalised here. This may be a temporary solution in view of the uncertainty over the future generic delimitation in the ‘justicioid’ lineage, but as we currently accept Justicia sect. Monechma (see Introduction), it is sensible to make the required combinations in Justicia for all the Angolan species.