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SummaryFour species of Rinorea are described as new to science; all four species are endemic to evergreen rain forest in Cameroon. Rinorea villiersii Achound. and R. amietii Achound are placed in Rinorea [unranked] Crassiflorae M.Brandt, while, R. dewildei Achound. and R. faurei Achound. fall in Rinorea [unranked] Dentatae Engl. The first species appears to be endemic to the Solé Forest Reserve northeast of Yabassi in Littoral Region. The second and the third species are found mainly in Littoral and South Regions, R. amietii extending to South West Region and R. dewildei extending to Central Region. The fourth species, R. faurei is an endemic of the Santchou Forest Reserve at the foot of Dschang Plateau in West Region. The taxonomic affinities of the four species are discussed, illustrations and a distribution map are provided, and their conservation status is assessed. All four species are threatened with extinction according to the 2012 IUCN categories and criteria.

SummaryA new species to science of evergreen forest shrub, Kupeantha yabassi M.G.Alvarez & Cheek (Coffeeae - Rubiaceae), is described, illustrated and compared morphologically with the closely similar species K. pentamera. Restricted so far to a single site in evergreen lowland forest near the Ebo Forest, Yabassi, Littoral Region, Cameroon, this species is Critically Endangered using the IUCN 2012 standard due to habitat clearance driven mainly by agriculture, adding to the growing list of threatened species resulting from anthropogenic pressure on Cameroon forests. A revised key to the six species of Kupeantha is presented. Two distinct geographical and ecological species groupings within the genus are identified and discussed. Notes are given on other narrowly endemic and threatened species in the Ebo Forest area, a threatened centre of diversity important for conservation in the Littoral Region.

SummaryThis paper reports a further discovery of a new endemic threatened species to science in the context of botanical surveys in the lowland coastal forests of Mount Cameroon in the Cross River-Sanaga interval of west-central Africa. These studies now focus on species discovery and conservation through the Tropical Important Plant Areas programme. New species to science continue to be discovered from Mt Cameroon. Most of these species are rare, highly localised, and threatened by habitat destruction, increasing the justification for improved conservation management of surviving habitat. Drypetes burnleyae is placed in and keyed out in Drypetes sect. Stipulares, a group mostly confined to Lower Guinea, here adjusted to accommodate nine species. The conservation status of Drypetes burnleyae is assessed as Endangered (EN B1+2ab(iii)) according to the 2012 criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. An updated overview of the plant endemics of Mt Cameroon is presented.

Background and aims – This paper reports a further discovery during preparation for a monograph of the genus Cola, and also in the context of a long-term botanical survey in the Cross River-Sanaga interval of west-central Africa, focussing on species discovery and conservation through the Tropical Important Plant Areas programme.Methods – Normal practices of herbarium taxonomy have been applied to study the material collected. The relevant collections are stored in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London (K) and at the Institute of Research in Agronomic Development – National Herbarium of Cameroon (YA). Key results – Two species new to science, small trees or shrubs of cloud forest, are formally named from the Bakossi tribal area and assessed for their conservation status. Cola etugei, is endemic to the western slopes of Mt Kupe with conservation status assessed as Critically Endangered (CR B1+2ab(iii)) according to the 2012 criteria of IUCN. Cola kodminensis from the Bakossi Mts is also assessed as Critically Endangered (CR B1+2ab(iii)). This publication increases the number of documented narrowly endemic, threatened species in the Bakossi tribal area, and helps make the case for formal protection of Mt Kupe, which with 33 endemic and near-endemic plant species remains an extremely high candidate for such protection. Further effort is needed to publish the remaining informally named species of this location, and investment to support the protection of the mountain by local communities.

SummaryTwo tree species are described as new to science: Rinorea spongiocarpa Achound. sp. nov (placed in Rinorea [unranked] Brachypetalae) and Rinorea dimakoensis Achound. sp. nov.( placed in Rinorea [unranked] Ilicifolieae). Both species are endemic to Cameroon, occurring south of the Sanaga river, the first from South and East Regions, occurring in evergreen forest from Ebolowa to Dja, while the second occurs in the northern part of East Region in semi-deciduous forest towards the interface with woodland habitats in the Dimako-Bertoua area. The two species are illustrated, and their affinities and conservation status according to the 2012 IUCN categories and criteria are discussed. Both species are threatened with extinction due to habitat destruction, the first is assessed as Vulnerable, the second Endangered.

SummaryWe revise and update the records of strict and near-endemic species of the Bali Ngemba Forest Reserve, the largest known surviving patch (c. 8 km2in area) of submontane or cloud forest in the Bamenda Highlands, Cameroon which have lost >96 % of their original forest due to human activities. Nine strict endemics, and 11 near endemics are now documented, a drop from the number recorded after the first survey in 2004, since when five of the provisionally named species have been formally published.We test the hypothesis that a further one of the provisionally named putative Bali Ngemba new species,Veprissp. A, an 8 – 20 m tall tree from cloud forest in the 1310 – 1600 m altitudinal band, is indeed new to science. We compare it morphologically with other multicarpellate, apocarpous, trifoliolate Cameroon tree species formerly placed in the genusOriciaPierre until they were subsumed intoVeprisby Mziray (1992). These areVepris trifoliolata(Engl.) Mziray andV. gabonensis(Pierre) Mziray. We conclude thatVeprissp. A is a new undescribed species here named asVepris onanae. The new species is illustrated, mapped and its conservation status assessed as Endangered using the 2012 IUCN standard due to the threats of habitat clearance from agricultural pressures at its three locations all of which remain formally unprotected.Vepris onanaeappears unique among the Guineo-Congolian African oricioid species ofVeprisin occurring in cloud forest, the other species, apart fromV. renieriiof the Albertine Rift, occurring in lowland forest. It also differs in the very broad, (7.8 –) 11.3 – 18 cm wide leaflets of the flowering stems which have a 6-18(−30) mm long, narrowly triangular acumen (vs leaflets We report for the first time on stage-dependent leaf heteromorphy inVeprisand characterise a level of sexual dimorphism more advanced than usual in the genus.We highlight the importance of protecting Bali Ngemba and other forest patches in the Bamenda Highlands if species such asVepris onanaeare not soon to become extinct.

SummaryA new species to science of evergreen forest tree,Uvariopsis ebo(Annonaceae) is described, illustrated, mapped, and compared morphologically with the other cauliflorous species of the genus. Restricted so far to a single site in evergreen lowland forest in the Ebo Forest, Yabassi, Littoral Region, Cameroon, this species is Critically Endangered using the IUCN 2012 standard, because the forest habitat of this species remains unprotected, and there exists threats of logging and conversion to plantations. This species adds to the growing list of threatened species resulting from anthropogenic pressure on Cameroon forests. Observations on the unusual corolla structure of the new species are made. A revised key to the 14 Cameroonian species ofUvariopsisis presented. Notes are given on other narrowly endemic and threatened species in the Ebo forest area, a highly threatened centre of diversity in Littoral Region, globally important for conservation.

SummaryA new species to science of evergreen forest shrub, Kupeantha yabassi (Coffeeae - Rubiaceae), is described, illustrated, mapped, and compared morphologically with the closely similar species K. pentamera. Restricted so far to a single site in evergreen lowland forest near the Ebo Forest, Yabassi, Littoral Region, Cameroon, this species is Critically Endangered using the IUCN 2012 standard due to habitat clearance driven mainly by agriculture, adding to the growing list of threatened species resulting from anthropogenic pressure on Cameroon forests. A revised key to the six species of Kupeantha is presented. Two distinct geographical and ecological species groupings within the genus are identified and discussed. Notes are given on other narrowly endemic and threatened species in the Ebo forest area, a threatened centre of diversity important for conservation in Littoral Region.

SummaryThe spectacular new species with horticultural potential described in this paper, Hibiscus hareyae L.A.J.Thomson & Cheek, was identified during an assessment of online digitised botanical specimens of H. schizopetalus (Dyer) Hook.f. as part of a review of species in Hibiscus sect. Lilibiscus Hochr. A short updated description and delimitation of the horticulturally important sect. Lilibiscus is presented. Flowering and fruiting specimens of Hibiscus hareyae are readily distinguished from H. schizopetalus by their short (0.4 – 2 (– 4.5) cm long, non-articulated peduncle-pedicels vs (6 –) 8 – 11 (– 14) cm long, articulated peduncle-pedicels, and larger, broader epicalyx bracts (1.5 – 4 × 1 – 1.2 mm vs 0.6 – 1.5 × 0.1 – 0.3 (– 0.5) mm), the epicalyx forming a shallow cup 0.5 – 1 × 2 – 3 mm vs bracts appearing free. The absence of an articulation of the peduncle-pedicel of H. hareyae is unique within sect. Lilibiscus. The species is also well-marked from H. schizopetalus by other morphological differences in corolla and foliage, and in ecology and geography. Hibiscus hareyae has a restricted natural distribution as an element in deciduous coastal thicket, usually on coral rag formations, sometimes in or near mangrove, in Lindi Province, southern Tanzania. It ranges from the Indian Ocean coast to as much as 20 km inland, from about 8.5oS to 10oS (c. 140 × 20 km) and is assessed as Vulnerable (VU B2ab(iii)). Hibiscus hareyae has high ornamental potential but is unknown in cultivation.

Deinbollia onanae (Sapindaceae-Litchi clade) is here formally named and characterised as a new species to science, previously known as Deinbollia sp. 2. Cameroon has the highest species-diversity and species endemism known in this African-Western Indian Ocean genus of 42 species. Deinbollia onanae is an infrequent tree species known from five locations in surviving islands of montane (or upper submontane) forest along the line of the Cameroon Highlands. It is here assessed as Endangered according to the IUCN 2012 standard, threatened mainly by clearance of forest for agriculture. The majority of tree species characteristic of montane forest (above 2000 m alt.) in the Cameroon Highlands are also widespread in East African mountains (i.e. are Afromontane). Deinbollia onanae is one of only a very small number of species that are endemic (globally restricted to) the mountain range. It is postulated that this new species is in a sister relationship with Deinbollia oreophila, which is a frequent species of a lower (submontane) altitudinal band of the same range. It is further postulated that seed dispersal is or was by frugivorous birds, potentially turacos, alternatively by primates such as Preuss s monkey.

This is the first revision in nearly 130 years of the African genusPseudohydrosme, formerly considered endemic to Gabon. Sister toAnchomanes, Pseudohydrosmeis distinct fromAnchomanesbecause of its 2–3-locular ovary (not unilocular), peduncle concealed by cataphylls at anthesis and far shorter than the spathe (not exposed, far exceeding the spathe), stipitate fruits and viviparous (vegetatively apomictic) roots (not sessile, roots non-viviparous). Three species, one new to science, are recognised, in two sections. Although doubt has previously been cast on the value of recognisingPseudohydrosme buettneri, of Gabon, it is here accepted and maintained as a distinct species in the monotypic section,Zyganthera. However, it is considered to be probably globally extinct.Pseudohydrosme gabunensis, type species of the genus, also Gabonese, is maintained in Sect.Pseudohydrosmetogether withPseudohydrosme ebo sp.nov. of the Ebo Forest, Littoral, Cameroon, the first addition to the genus since the nineteenth century, and which extends the range of the genus 450 km north from Gabon, into the Cross-Sanaga biogeographic area. The discovery ofPseudohydrosme eboresulted from a series of surveys for conservation management in Cameroon, and triggered this paper. All three species ofPseudohydrosmeare morphologically characterised, their habitat and biogeography discussed, and their extinction risks are respectively assessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), Endangered and Critically Endangered using the IUCN standard. Clearance of forest habitat for logging, followed by agriculture or urbanisation are major threats. One of the species may occur in a formally protected areas and is also cultivated widely but infrequently in Europe and the USA for its spectacular inflorescences.

Nepenthes maximoidessp. nov. (Sect.Alatae) is described and assessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) from Luzon, Philippines and appears unrecorded in 110 years. The spectacular, large, narrowly funnel-shaped upper pitchers, lids with recurved basal and filiform apical appendages, unlike any other species in the Philippines, closely resemble those ofN. maxima(Sect.Regiae) of Sulawesi–New Guinea, likely due to convergent evolution. Following recent phylogenomic analysis, sect.Alataeis divided into two, Sect.Alatae sensu strictoof Luzon to Sibuyan (includingN. maximoides), and Sect.Micramphorae, expanded and recircumscribed to encompass those species of the southern Visayas, and Mindanao. A key is provided to the six species now recognised in the newly narrowly recircumscribed Sect.Alatae. The number ofNepenthesspecies recorded from Luzon has increased from two in 2001, to eight in 2020, all but one of which are endemic to that island, and four of which appear to be point endemics.

Societal Impact Statement Research and publication of the planet's remaining plant and fungal species as yet unknown to science is essential if we are to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 “Life on Land” which includes the protection of terrestrial ecosystems and halting of biodiversity loss. If species are not known to science, they cannot be assessed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and so the possibility to protect them from extinction is reduced. Furthermore, until species are known to science they cannot be fully scientifically evaluated for their potential as new foods, medicines, and products which would help address SDGs 1,2,3, and 8. Summary Scientific discovery, including naming new taxa, is important because without a scientific name, a species is invisible to science and the possibilities of researching its ecology, applications and threats, and conserving it, are greatly reduced. We review new scientific discoveries in the plant and fungal kingdoms, based largely on new names of taxa published in 2019 and indexed in the International Plant Names Index and Index Fungorum. Numbers of new species in both kingdoms were similar with 1942 new species of plant published and 1882 species of fungi. However, while >50% of plant species have likely been discovered, >90% of fungi remain unknown. This gulf likely explains the greater number of higher order taxa for fungi published in 2019: three classes, 18 orders, 48 families and 214 genera versus one new family and 87 new genera for plants. We compare the kingdoms in terms of rates of scientific discovery, globally and in different taxonomic groups and geographic areas, and with regard to the use of DNA in discovery. We review species new to science, especially those of interest to humanity as new products, and also by life‐form. We consider where future such discoveries can be expected. We recommend an urgent increase in investment in scientific discovery of plant and fungal species, while they still survive. Priorities include more investment in training taxonomists, in building and equipping collections‐based research centers for them, especially in species‐rich, income‐poor countries where the bulk of species as yet unknown to science are thought to occur.

SummaryThree new species of Inversodicraea (Podostemaceae), I. senei from the Memv’ele falls of the Ntem River, Cameroon, I. tanzaniensis from the Ruhudji River near Lupembe, Southern Highlands, Tanzania, and I. botswana from the Kasane rapids on the Chobe River, Botswana, are described and illustrated. All three species are known from single sites. All three are assessed as Critically Endangered using the IUCN standard. With 35 species, Inversodicraea is the most species-diverse genus of Podostemaceae in continental Africa, to which it is endemic. Four species of Inversodicraea are now known to be sympatric and point endemics at Memv’ele Falls in Cameroon where a hydro-electric dam is being constructed, threatening them with global extinction. Equally, I. tanzaniensis is threatened by proposed hydro-electric projects in Tanzania. In contrast, I. botswana is threatened by sewage discharge and also by bridge construction.

Nepenthes maximoides sp. nov. (Sect.Alatae) is described and assessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) from Luzon, Philippines and appears unrecorded in 110 years. The spectacular, large, narrowly funnel-shaped upper pitchers, lids with recurved basal, and filiform apical appendages, unlike any other species in the Philippines, closely resemble those ofN. maxima(Sect.Regiae) of Sulawesi-New Guinea, likely due to convergent evolution. Following recent phylogenomic analysis, sect.Alataeis divided into two, Sect.Alatae sensu strictoof Luzon to Sibuyan (includingN. maximoides), and Sect.Micramphorae, expanded and recircumscribed to encompass those species of the southern Visayas, and Mindanao. A key is provided to the six species now recognised in the narrowly recircumscribed Sect.Alatae. The number ofNepenthesspecies recorded from Luzon has increased from two in 2001, to eight in 2020, all but one of which are endemic to that island, and four of which appear to be point endemics.

SaxicolellaEngl., an African genus of the waterfall specialist plant family Podostemaceae, was shown to be polyphyletic as currently delimited. One clade, sampled from species in Ghana, is sister to AmericanCeratolacis(Tul.)Wedd.,PodostemumMichx. and all Old World Podostemoideae (podostemoids). The second clade, sampled from Cameroonian material, was embedded within the major clade of African podostemoids. In this paper the generic nomenclature applied toSaxicolellasensu lato (Saxicolella, PohliellaEngl., AuleaLebrun & Stork nom. inval.), is reviewed and the morphological support for the two clades and their correct generic names is determined.Pohliellais shown to be the correct name for the first clade (based onPohliella laciniataEngl., Cameroon) and a synoptic treatment of its three published species is given, one of which is extinct, and two are threatened. However, a fourth, unpublished species exists. The new combinationsPohliella submersa(J.B.Hall) Cheek andPohliella amicorum(J.B. Hall) Cheek are made for the two published Ghanaian species. The recently described New World genusCipoiaC.T. Philbrick, Novelo & Irgang is revealed as being morphologically identical toPohliella, but in view of the geographical disjunction, confirmation from molecular evidence is awaited before its two species are also transferred toPohliella. The correct name for the second clade, embedded in African podostemoids, isSaxicolella(sensu stricto), now with two known species,Saxicolella nanaEngl. (type ofSaxicolella,Cameroon) andSaxicolella flabellata(G.Taylor) C. Cusset (Nigeria).

To achieve conservation success, we need to support the recovery of threatened species. Yet, in situ and ex situ and then to support their recovery. We document the approach used to assemble the Species Conservation Action Plans, and we discuss the importance of having up to date field information, IUCN Red List assessments, and use of a collaborative approach. The need for these plans is increasingly important with recent calculations suggesting a third of African plants are threatened with extinction. This paper outlines initial detailed plant conservation planning in Guinea and offers a template for conservation practitioners in other tropical African countries to follow.

Background and aims – This paper reports a further discovery in the context of a long-term botanical survey in the Cross River-Sanaga interval of west-central Africa, focussing on species discovery and conservation.Methods – Normal practices of herbarium taxonomy have been applied to study the material collected. The relevant collecting data are stored in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London. Key results – The growing number of endemic species being discovered from the Ebo forest of Cameroon points to the importance of its conservation. Palisota ebo Cheek (Commelinaceae) is described as an additional new species to science and is compared with P. flagelliflora Faden. Restricted so far to the Ebo Forest its conservation status is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR B1+2ab(iii)) according to the 2012 criteria of IUCN.

The history, taxonomic placement, relationships, mode of trapping and cultivation of Nepenthes dubia Danser, an epiphytic fly-eater from the cloud forests of the Bukit Barisan range of the west coast of Sumatra, are discussed. This is one of the eight species of Sect. Montanae Danser with ‘egg-cup’ like pitchers. A key is provided to the eight species and they are formally named as Nepenthes Sect. Montanae subsect. Poculae-ovis.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-10T17:39:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-08-05 Royal Society International Exchanges Carlsberg Foundation Danish Research Council National Natural Science Foundation of China Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) US National Science Foundation National Parks Board, Singapore Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Synthesys Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Edinburgh Botanic Garden (Sibbald) Trust M. L. MacIntyre Begonia Trust Scottish Government's Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division New Guinea is the world's largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries(1,2). Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet(3)and to intact ecological gradients-from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands-that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region(4,5), it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural diversity(6,7). So far, however, there has been no attempt to critically catalogue the entire vascular plant diversity of New Guinea. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, expert-verified checklist of the vascular plants of mainland New Guinea and surrounding islands. Our publicly available checklist includes 13,634 species (68% endemic), 1,742 genera and 264 families-suggesting that New Guinea is the most floristically diverse island in the world. Expert knowledge is essential for building checklists in the digital era: reliance on online taxonomic resources alone would have inflated species counts by 22%. Species discovery shows no sign of levelling off, and we discuss steps to accelerate botanical research in the 'Last Unknown'(8). A catalogue of the vascular flora of New Guinea indicates that this island is the most floristically diverse in the world, and that 68% of the species identified are endemic to New Guinea. Royal Bot Gardens, London, England Nat Biodivers Ctr, Leiden, Netherlands Univ Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor, MI USA Univ Gottingen, Dept Systemat Biodivers & Evolut Plants, Albrecht von Haller Inst Plant Sci, Gottingen, Germany Royal Bot Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Aarhus Univ, Dept Biosci, Aarhus, Denmark Univ Vermont, Dept Plant Biol, Pringle Herbarium, Burlington, VT USA Boise State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Boise, ID 83725 USA Conservatoire & Jardin Bot Ville Geneve, Chambesy, Switzerland Univ Sydney, Sch Life & Environm Sci, Sydney, NSW, Australia Natl Museum Nat & Sci, Dept Bot, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan Univ Minnesota, Dept Plant & Microbial Biol, St Paul, MN 55108 USA New Guinea Binatang Res Ctr, Madang, Papua N Guinea Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Reg & Chinese Acad Sci, Guangxi Key Lab Plant Conservat & Restorat Ecol K, Guangxi Inst Bot, Guilin, Peoples R China Papua New Guinea Univ Technol, Lae, Papua N Guinea Herbarium Bogoriense, Bogor, Indonesia Univ Fed Mato Grosso do Sul, Tres Lagoas Campus, Tres Lagoas, Brazil Royal Bot Garden Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia Univ Papua, Fak Kehutanan, Manokwari, Indonesia Baden Penelitian & Pengembangan Daerah Prov Papua, Manokwari, Indonesia Missouri Bot Garden, St Louis, MO USA Papua New Guinea Forest Res Inst, Lae, Papua N Guinea Natl Bot Gardens Ireland, Glasnevin, Ireland Univ Zurich, Dept Systemat & Evolutionary Bot, Zurich, Switzerland Forest Res Inst Malaysia, Kepong, Malaysia Nat Hist Museum, Dept Life Sci, London, England Univ Bonn, Nees Inst Biodivers Plants, Bonn, Germany Martin Luther Univ Halle Wittenberg, Inst Biol, Herbarium, Halle, Germany Natl Pk Board, Nat Plants Ctr, Singapore, Singapore Natl Pk Board, Singapore Bot Gardens, Singapore, Singapore Univ Aberdeen, Sch Biol Sci, Aberdeen, Scotland Univ Philippines Manila, Coll Arts & Sci, Dept Biol, Manila, Philippines Kyoto Univ, Kyoto Univ Museum, Kyoto, Japan Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Biosci, Rio Claro, Brazil Royal Bot Gardens Victoria, South Yarra, Vic, Australia Univ Melbourne, Sch BioSci, Parkville, Vic, Australia Univ Oxford, Dept Plant Sci, Oxford, England Queens Univ Belfast, Marine Lab, Portaferry, North Ireland Fern Res Fdn, Kerikeri, New Zealand Univ N Carolina, Wilmington, NC USA Museum New Zealand Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand Western Michigan Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 USA New Mexico State Univ, Dept Anim & Range Sci, Las Cruces, NM 88003 USA Univ Fed Vicosa, Dept Biol Vegetal, Vicosa, MG, Brazil Colorado State Univ, Dept Biol, Ft Collins, CO 80523 USA Trinity Coll Dublin, Sch Nat Sci, Dept Bot, Dublin, Ireland Univ Florida, Dept Biol, Gainesville, FL USA CSIRO Land & Water, Floreat, WA, Australia Univ Western Australia, Sch Biol Sci, Crawley, WA, Australia Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Bot, Beijing, Peoples R China Univ Minnesota, Bell Museum, St Paul, MN 55108 USA Univ Glasgow, Inst Biodivers Anim Hlth & Comparat Med, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland Chinese Acad Sci, Chengdu Inst Biol, Chengdu, Peoples R China Leiden Univ, Inst Biol Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands Univ Zurich, Dept Evolutionary Biol & Environm Studies, Zurich, Switzerland Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Biosci, Rio Claro, Brazil Royal Society International Exchanges: IE 170241 National Natural Science Foundation of China: 31570307 CNPq: 153430/2018-4 US National Science Foundation: DEB-1457366 US National Science Foundation: DEB-1754667 US National Science Foundation: DEB-0515678 US National Science Foundation: DEB-0816749 US National Science Foundation: DEB-0841885 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: LE 1826/3-1 Synthesys: GB-TAF-6305 FAPESP: 2015/13112-7 FAPESP: 2018/09379-6

SummaryVepris verdoorniana(Rutaceae) has long been regarded as a widespread and variable species occurring from Guinea to Gabon. Recent evidence has shown that the original material from the type locality in Cameroon consists of two different species,V. verdoornianain the strict sense, endemic to Lower Guinea (Cameroon, Gabon and C.A.R. in W-C Africa) andV. letouzeyiOnana, which was thought to occur from Guinea to Cameroon. In this paper we show that the West African (Upper Guinea) material previously referred to asV. letouzeyi/V. verdoornianais separate morphologically from that in Cameroon (Lower Guinea). In fact the West African material referred to comprises two distinct species, here described asV. occidentalisCheek & Onana (Guinea to Ghana, but probably extending to Benin) a tree of lowland marginal dry evergreen and semi-deciduous forest, andV. ferCheek, a species restricted to four mainly lower submontane forest locations on iron substrates in Liberia and Sierra Leone (also Upper Guinea).Vepris occidentalisis here assessed as Least Concern due to its wide range and high frequency, whilstV. feris assessed as Endangered due to the low number of locations and threats from iron ore mining projects. Both new species are illustrated and mapped.

Summary Cola cheringoma is described from the limestone gorge forest of the Cheringoma Plateau in Sofala Province of Central Mozambique. Tentatively treated previously as C. clavata Mast., it differs in being restricted to limestone substrate, the leaves drying white-green below (not on sandy soils, drying dark grey-brown). The tepal number of female flowers is 5 (not (5 –) 6), staminode number 5 (not 8), and the indumentum of the outer perianth covers only 50 – 60% of the surface with two distinct hair classes (not 100% coverage with a single hair type). The species is assessed as EN B2ab(iii) using the IUCN 2012 standard due to threats from the low number of locations, quarrying, and habitat modification. The Cola species growing in forest on limestone in tropical Africa are mapped and reviewed with respect to their status as obligate or facultative calcicoles, and with respect to their probable evolutionary origin. Based on morphological characters, adaptation to limestone habitats has probably occurred at least four times in the genus. Forests on limestone are rare and threatened in tropical Africa: only thirteen locations are known with certainty: these occur in Kenya (10 locations), Tanzania (2 locations) and Mozambique (1 location).

Background and aimsThis paper reports a further discovery in the context of a long-term botanical survey in the Cross River-Sanaga interval of west-central Africa, focussing on species discovery and conservation.MethodsNormal practices of herbarium taxonomy have been applied to study the material collected. The relevant collections are stored in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London and at the Institute of Research in Agronomic Development – National Herbarium of Cameroon.Key resultsNew species to science continue to be discovered from the cloud (submontane) forests of the Cameroon Highlands in Cameroon. Most of these species are rare, highly localised, and threatened by habitat destruction. These discoveries increase the justification for improved conservation management of surviving habitat.Tricalysia elmarCheek (Coffeeae-Rubiaceae) is described as an additional species new to science and is compared with similar species of the genus. Restricted so far to four locations, Mt Kupe, Bali Ngemba, Lebialem and Nta Ali, its conservation status is assessed as Endangered (EN B1+2ab(iii)) according to the 2012 criteria of IUCN.

Mesanthemum prescottianum is a West African species occurring in the uplands extending from Guinea to Ivory Coast. Variation within the species is discussed and the synonym M. tuberosum Lecomte is raised to specific status. The conservation status of the first species is assessed using the IUCN 2012 standard as Least Concern, and the second as Vulnerable. Lectotypes are selected for both names. The type location of M. prescottianum, claimed to be Brazil, is shown to be an error.

Warneckea ngutiensis R. D. Stone sp. nov. (Melastomataceae-Olisbeoideae) is described from near Nguti in SW Region, Cameroon. Unique in section Strychnoides in having only a vestigial staminal oil gland, this rainforest shrub is Critically Endangered due to an oil palm plantation project.

Two new coffee relatives (tribe Coffeeae, Rubiaceae), discovered during botanical expeditions to Cameroon, are examined for generic placement, and the placement of three previously known species (Argocoffeopsis fosimondi, A. spathulata and Calycosiphonia pentamera) is reinvestigated using plastid sequence (accD-psa1, rpl16, trnL-F) and morphological data. Seed biochemistry of the new species and pollen micromorphology (only one of the two species) are also studied. Based on the plastid sequence data, the new taxa are nested in a well-supported monophyletic group that includes Argocoffeopsis and Calycosiphonia. Within this clade, three well-supported subclades are recovered that are morphologically easy to diagnose: (1) Calycosiphonia (excluding C. pentamera), (2) Argocoffeopsis (excluding A. fosimondi and A. spathulata), and (3) a clade including the above excluded species, in addition to the new species. Based on the results, Kupeantha, a new genus of five species, is described, including two new Critically Endangered taxa from the Highlands of Cameroon: Kupeantha ebo and K. kupensis. Phytochemical analysis of Kupeantha seeds reveals compounds assigned as hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, amino acids and ent-kaurane diterpenoids; caffeine was not detected. Kupeantha is the first new genus described in tribe Coffeeae in 40 years., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Keetia susu Cheek and K. futa Cheek from the Republic of Guinea, and K. abouabou Cheek from Ivory Coast are described here. Each species is assessed using the IUCN standard as, respectively, Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered. Each species is illustrated and mapped. A key to the 16 species of Keetia in West Africa (Senegal to Benin) is provided. The number of species of Keetia currently accepted is now known to total 35.

Guinea-Conakry has one of the highest plant diversities in Sub-Saharan West Africa and is part of the Upper Guinean Forest ecoregion and the Guinean Forests of West Africa biodiversity hotspot. Guinea is a major supplier of the world’s bauxite and has significant reserves of high grade iron ore, it also has small reserves of diamonds, gold and uranium. As a result large areas of open cast mining exist in the country and pressure on habitats and vegetation are increasing with the need to bring revenue into the country; this is in addition to unsustainable slash and burn agriculture and a growing population. An initial list of 482 species was compiled from Lisowski’s Flore (Angiospermes) de la République de Guinée, subsequent discussion and screening reduced the list to 253. This list has since increased, through new species and range extensions, to 270 which is presented here. It is estimated that c. 7-8% of the countries flora is threatened. Rediscoveries and new species are being made in Guinea, but they are often already threatened having been discovered as part of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). A comprehensive red list of threatened species is much needed to support the country’s environmental policy as well as their international obligations. Data gathering for a Red Data Book for Guinea has been ongoing for several years and is due to be published in 2019.

Background Although many new species to science have been discovered from thousands of specimens resulting from botanical inventories to support conservation management in Cameroon in recent years, additional species remain to be formally evaluated taxonomically and described. These include species from genera which have been taxonomically neglected for many decades in Africa, such as Microcos. Methods This study is based mainly on herbarium specimens and field observations made in Cameroon during a series of botanical surveys. Herbarium material was examined with a Leica Wild M8 dissecting binocular microscope fitted with an eyepiece graticule. Principal Findings Microcos magnifica Cheek (Malvaceae-Grewioideae or Sparrmanniaceae) is described as an Endangered (EN B2 ab(iii)) new tree species from the submontane forests of Cameroon. It is illustrated and described, and its conservation status and taxonomic affinities are assessed. It is the first new Microcos described from Africa in more than 90 years and is unique on the continent in having sculptured fruits. Discussion A systematic revision, with a molecular phylogenetic study, of Microcos Burm. ex L. in Africa is necessary if the affinities of the species, including M. magnifica, are to be reliably established.

Ternstroemia guineensis is described from a sandstone table mountain at Kounounkan, possibly the last in the Fouta Djallon (Guinea Highlands) to remain largely unimpacted by humans and to have mainly intact natural habitats. It occurs about 2400 km westward of the nearest existing record (Nigeria) of the genus in Africa. It is confined to cloud (submontane) forest in galleries along watercourses. Its conservation status is assessed as Endangered using the IUCN 2012 criteria. The species differs from the other two African highland species, T. cameroonensis and T. polypetala, in having hermaphrodite flowers with a long subcylindric style and punctiform stigmas, and petals connate at the base into a tube (not dioecious, with a short style and cone-like stigmas, and free petals) resembling in these features the neotropical Ternstroemia species, as does also the lowland wetland T. africana of Nigeria, Gabon and Angola. Citation: Cheek M., Haba P. M., Konomou G. & Burgt X. M. van der 2019: Ternstroemia guineensis (Ternstroemiaceae), a new endangered cloudforest shrub with neotropical affinities from Kounounkan, Guinea, W Africa. – Willdenowia 49: 351–360. doi: https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.49.49306 Version of record first published online on 26 November 2019 ahead of inclusion in December 2019 issue.

The name Leptonychia kamerunensis Engl. & K. Krause is resurrected for an understorey tree of submontane forest in the Cameroon Highlands. L. subtomentosa K. Schum. is resurrected for a tree of the hilly semi-deciduous forests around Yaounde in Central Province, Cameroon. L. moyesiae Cheek, a shrub of lowland coastal evergreen forest of SE Nigeria, SW Province Cameroon and Bioko, is newly described. The taxonomic affinities and conservation status of these three species are assessed.

Nepenthes blancoi Bl. is neotypified on material conspecific with N. alata Blanco. Material previously associated with N. blancoi is described as N. abalata Jebb & Cheek sp. nov. This is a grassland species seemingly related to N. philippinensis Macfarl. but with similarities to the grassland species of Indo-China. Its conservation status is assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ (CR).

Calophyllum africanum Cheek & Q. Luke is described and illustrated from Mali, in that part close to the Fouta Djalon of Guinea. Plant species present in its gallery forest habitat are listed in detail. Threatened by gold and uranium mining activities, C. africanum is here assessed as Critically Endangered according to the categories and criteria of IUCN. This is the first native Calophyllum known from continental Africa apart from the indo-pacific littoral C. inophyllum. The affinities of C. africanum appear to lie with the Neotropics and it is most similar to the Caribbean species C. antillanum.

Psychotria samoritourei Cheek is described from the submontane forests of the Loma-Man highlands in Upper Guinea, West Africa. It is the sixth known lianescent African species of its genus. The distinguishing characters and taxonomic affinities of the species are analysed and its conservation status is assessed. An overview of the Loma-Man highlands and their forests is presented.

Vepris bali is the first known species of Vepris in WC Africa with opposite, trifoliolate leaves and is further unusual for its long petiolules. Known only from Bali Ngemba Forest Reserve, a remnant of submontane forest under great pressure of degradation in the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon, it may already be extinct due to tree cutting and agricultural incursions. Here, V. bali is compared with other endemic cloud forest Vepris of the Cameroon Highlands and is described, illustrated, mapped and assessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) using IUCN 2012 criteria.Citation: Cheek M., Gosline G. & Onana J.-M. 2018: Vepris bali (Rutaceae), a new critically endangered (possibly extinct) cloud forest tree species from Bali Ngemba, Cameroon. - Willdenowia 48: 285–292. doi: https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.48.48207Version of record first published online on 24 August 2018 ahead of inclusion in August 2018 issue.

Oxygyne Schltr. (Thismiaceae) is a rare and little-known genus of achlorophyllous mycoheterotrophic perennial herbs with one of the most remarkable distributions of all angiosperm plant genera globally, being disjunct between Japan and West–Central Africa. Each species is known only from a single location, and in most cases from a single specimen. This monographic study names, describes and maps two new species, Oxygyne duncanii Cheek from cloud forest in SW Region Cameroon and O. frankei Cheek from gallery forest in the Central African Republic, representing the first new Oxygyne species described from Africa in 112 years, and raising the number of described Oxygyne species from four to six. Oxygyne duncanii is remarkable for sharing more morphological characters with two of the three Japanese species (O. hyodoi C.Abe & Akasawa, O. shinzatoi (H. Ohashi) Tsukaya) than with the geographically much closer type species of the genus, O. triandra from Mt Cameroon. Based mainly on herbarium specimens and field observations made in Cameroon and Japan during a series of botanical surveys, we provide descriptions, synonymy, mapping and extinction risk assessments for each species of Oxygyne, together with keys to the genera of Thismiaceae and the species of Oxygyne. The subterranean structures of African Oxygyne are described for the first time, and found to be consistent with those of the Japanese species. We review and reject an earlier proposal that the Japanese species should be segregated from the African species as a separate genus, Saionia Hatus. The only character that separates the two disjunct species groups is now flower colour: blue or partly-blue in the Japanese species compared with orange-brown in the African species. Studies of the pollination biology and mycorrhizal partners of Oxygyne are still lacking. Two of the six species, O. triandra Schltr. and O. hyodoi, appear to be extinct, and the remaining four are assessed as Critically Endangered using the IUCN 2012 criteria. To avoid further extinction, an urgent requirement is for conservation management of the surviving species in the wild. Since few achlorophyllous mycoheterotrophs have been successfully cultivated from seed to maturity, ex situ conservation will not be viable for these species and protection in the wild is the only viable option. While natural habitat survives, further botanical surveys could yet reveal additional new species between Central Africa and Japan.

Deinbollia oreophila Cheek (Sapindaceae) is described from the submontane forests of the Cameroon Highlands, extending to the Obudu Plateau of Nigeria. It is unusual in being the only submontane species of the genus in West and Central Africa, and in being glabrous, with bright white raised lenticels. Its morphological variation and its conservation status are assessed.

Oricia lecomteana Pierre (Rutaceae), a rare and threatened shrub or tree of coastal lowland and lower submontane evergreen forest from Southeast Nigeria to Congo-Brazzaville, is transferred to Vepris A. Juss. as Vepris lecomteana (Pierre) Cheek & T. Heller and its taxonomic, geographic and conservation status is assessed.

Allophylus conraui Gilg ex Radlk. as treated in the Flora of West Tropical Africa is reassessed and shown to comprise two distinct taxa, one of which, a spiny shrub or small tree of upper submontane forest in Cameroon and Nigeria, is described as Allophylus ujori Cheek. The second taxon, a lowland to lower submontane spineless small shrub, of Cameroon is redescribed as Allophylus conraui and neotypified. The affinities and conservation status of both these threatened species are discussed. Both taxa are illustrated.

We show that two distinct species have been confused under the name of Tarenna hutchinsonii Bremek. T. hutchinsonii itself appears to be confined to its type location in Sierra Leone (where it is presumed extinct) and to several newly discovered locations in Guinea and Liberia. It has been assessed as Critically Endangered using the 2012 IUCN standard. Material from Ghana and Ivory Coast previously ascribed to T. hutchinsonii is here described as T. agnata Cheek & Lopez Poveda, and assessed as Critically Endangered, although it may well already be globally extinct.

River plants and water chemistry in wet and dry seasons were sampled in a wide range of rivers with variable catchments in the forest zone of Ghana, in order to examine the relationships between the floristic composition within the river and river water and catchment environmental variables. Plant species occurring in the river or on its seasonally flooded banks along 500 m sample stretches were listed in 26 sites. Sample species richness was low (1–17 species per sample, mean 5.9). Only nine species were recorded that are confined to rivers. Cluster analysis defined five floristic groups which differed in catchment area, geology, turbidity and dissolved minerals. Analysis of water chemistry variables by principal components analysis revealed a strong principal gradient (42% of total variance) related to annual rainfall with low ionic concentrations under high rainfall. The second component described seasonal differences in water chemistry. Nitrate and chloride were more concentrated in the dry season, but sulphate and calcium were more concentrated in the wet season. Catchments with higher forest cover yielded more oligotrophic and less turbid water. Catchment geology influenced water chemistry so that sandstone areas yielded clear water, and ancient peneplain areas with bauxitic soil were characterised by exceptionally low silicon concentrations. The association of macrophyte composition with river chemistry and catchment conditions was somewhat tenuous, due to the low number of species, but the low turbidity, oligotrophic rivers under high rainfall and with a high percentage of species-rich forest cover were the more species rich. Prediction of river water quality at the scale of this study are more readily made from a knowledge of catchment rainfall and forest cover than from assessments of river plant composition.

The forests of the Kilum-Ijim area, around Mount Oku in West Cameroon, are the largest remaining patch of montane forest in West Africa, and the highest in altitude. This important habitat harbours endemic species of both animals and plants but is surrounded by a high density of human settlements: c. 300,000 people live within a day's walk of the forest, which covers only 200 sq km. BirdLife International and the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry, Government of Cameroon, are currently operating the Kilum-Ijim Forest Project, with the overall goal of conserving representative areas of the Cameroon montane forest biome in the long-term. The purpose of the project is toensure that the biodiversity, extent and ecological processes of the Kilum-Ijim Forest are maintained and that the forest is used sustainably by the local communities. The existence of a small Sphagnum community and associated wetland plant species was discovered in 1997 on the summit of Mount Oku, at 2900 m. This site is of extremely high conservation importance because several plant species endemic to the Kilum-Ijim area have been recorded there. In addition, it is the highest Sphagnum bog and the source of the highest stream in West Africa.

Vascular plants are often considered to be among the better known large groups of organisms, but gaps in the available baseline data are extensive, and recent estimates of total known (described) seed plant species range from 200 000 to 422 000. Of these, global assessments of conservation status using International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories and criteria are available for only approximately 10 000 species. In response to recommendations from the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to develop biodiversity indicators based on changes in the status of threatened species, and trends in the abundance and distribution of selected species, we examine how existing data, in combination with limited new data collection, can be used to maximum effect. We argue that future work should produce Red List Indices based on a representative subset of plant species so that the limited resources currently available are directed towards redressing taxonomic and geographical biases apparent in existing datasets. Sampling the data held in the world's major herbaria, in combination with Geographical Information Systems techniques, can produce preliminary conservation assessments and help to direct selective survey work using existing field networks to verify distributions and gather population data. Such data can also be used to backcast threats and potential distributions through time. We outline an approach that could result in: (i) preliminary assessments of the conservation status of tens of thousands of species not previously assessed, (ii) significant enhancements in the coverage and representation of plant species on the IUCN Red List, and (iii) repeat and/or retrospective assessments for a significant proportion of these. This would result in more robust Sampled Red List Indices that can be defended as more representative of plant diversity as a whole; and eventually, comprehensive assessments at species level for one or more major families of angiosperms. The combined results would allow scientifically defensible generalizations about the current status of plant diversity by 2010 as well as tentative comments on trends. Together with other efforts already underway, this approach would establish a firmer basis for ongoing monitoring of the status of plant diversity beyond 2010 and a basis for comparison with the trend data available for vertebrates.

The Gulf of Guinea is believed to have been one of the two major Pleistocene refugia in Africa. Mount Cameroon lies towards the centre of this area and is one of Africa’s centres of plant diversity. At least 50 species and 3 genera are strictly endemic and 50 more species near endemic, to the main massif and the foothills Large areas of indigenous forest occur on the slopes, and the mountain, West Africa’s tallest at 4,000 m, is unusual in having natural vegetation extending from sea-level at the coast to the sub-alpine grassland at the top. An active volcano, the mountain’s soils are extremely fertile and the surviving forest is under some pressure from logging and farming. Since 1992, a series of botanical inventories have been carried out of the mountain’s forests. Approaching 10,000 specimen numbers have been gathered in the course of these inventories and this paper sets out the progress made in analyzing the data.

A survey of rheophytes of Ghana, begun in early 1994, has been set up between the Botany Departments of the University of Ghana and Aberdeen, the Institute of Aquatic Biology, Accra and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The purpose of the survey is to assess whether rheophytes can be used as indicators of pollution from, for example, effluents from human settlements and farming activities. An identification guide to Ghanaian rheophytes is to be produced. This paper reviews progress made with the survey and the different classes of rheophytes in Ghana.

It is shown that the single record of the genus Brucea J. F. Mill. (Simaroubaceae) from Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula (Wood 2886), identified as Brucea antidysenterica J. F. Mill., is based on a misidentification. The specimen is actually Polyscias fulva (Hiern) Harms in the Araliaceae, a genus and species not previously recorded from the Peninsula although a common pioneer tree of submontane forest in neighbouring continental Africa.

The new genus Kupea, with the only species K. martinetugei is described in the Triuridaceae from western Cameroon and its conservation status assessed.