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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Molecular and morphological characterization of a new monotypic genus of Annonaceae, Mwasumbia, from Tanzania
Systematic Botany, Volume 34, No. 2, Year 2009
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Description
The coastal lowland rain forests of eastern Africa are well known for their high levels of plant endemism. A new genus of Annonaceae, Mwasumbia, is described from Tanzania, underscoring this high biodiversity and represented by a single species, Mwasumbia alba. The new genus presents several morphological characters suggesting a close relationship to two other African genera, Greenwayodendron and Polyceratocarpus. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian molecular phylogenetic analyses based on two plastid markers, rbcL and the trnL-trnF region, strongly support the close relationship of these three genera to one another as well as to two other African genera, Annickia and Piptostigma. Together these five genera form a moderately supported clade within the so-called short-branch clade of Annonaceae. A detailed morphological and palynological comparison between Mwasumbia and the four other genera shows that this new genus exhibits a combination of features unique within this group: intermediate tertiary leaf venation, exclusively bisexual flowers, slightly imbricate sepals, valvate petals, outer and inner petals equal in length, numerous stamens, four carpels, few and uniseriate ovules, few and sessile monocarps, and verrucate sulculate pollen grains. Phylogenetic analyses also suggest the genus Piptostigma, as currently circumscribed, to be paraphyletic. An IUCN conservation status of VU D2 is proposed, reflecting the narrow distribution of the single species. © Copyright 2009 by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists.
Authors & Co-Authors
Couvreur, Thomas L.P.
Netherlands, Leiden
National Herbarium of the Netherlands - Nhn
van der Ham, Raymond W.J.M.
Netherlands, Leiden
National Herbarium of the Netherlands - Nhn
Mbele, Youssoufa M.
Netherlands, Leiden
National Herbarium of the Netherlands - Nhn
Mbago, Frank M.
Tanzania, Dar es Salaam
University of Dar es Salaam
Johnson, David M.
United States, Delaware
Ohio Wesleyan University
Statistics
Citations: 39
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1600/036364409788606398
ISSN:
03636445
e-ISSN:
15482324
Study Locations
Tanzania