Biodiversity Data Journal :
Single Taxon Treatment
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Corresponding author: Thomas L.P. Couvreur (thomas.couvreur@ird.fr)
Academic editor: Werner Greuter
Received: 28 Jun 2019 | Accepted: 16 Aug 2019 | Published: 27 Aug 2019
© 2019 Suzanne Mogue Kamga, Bonaventure Sonké, Thomas L.P. Couvreur
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Mogue Kamga S, Sonké B, Couvreur TLP (2019) Raphia vinifera (Arecaceae; Calamoideae): Misidentified for far too long. Biodiversity Data Journal 7: e37757. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.7.e37757
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The genus Raphia (Arecaceae/Palmae) is the most economically and culturally important genus of African palms. With over 20 recognized species, it is also the most diversified among tropical African palms. However, significant taxonomic confusion still persists in the genus. Raphia vinifera P.Beauv. is one of the first two names described in the genus, but the species has been misidentified and confused for several decades.
We clarify the taxonomic identity of R. vinifera. We retrace the taxonomic history of the name and clarify its morphological identity using the literature and type material. We synonymize the name R. mambillensis with R. vinifera. We provide a new detailed morphological description of R. vinifera based on the study of herbarium material and field data. A distribution map is also provided. Raphia vinifera is still incompletely known, and more research should be undertaken on this species' presence and ecology, especially in West Africa.
Raphia mambillensis, synonymy, Palisot de Beauvois, Africa, taxonomy, R. mannii
The palm genus Raphia P.Beauv. contains 22 species (
Raphia was erected by
Illustrations of Raphia vinifera from
A few years later, in their revision of African palms,
Specimen of Raphia vinifera collected by A. Chevalier from Soudan Français or Guinée Française in 1908. [P01794200; https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/p/item/p01794200?listIndex=113&listCount=223]. Scanned by the Muséum Nationale d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
In the first edition of the Flora of Tropical West Africa,
Confusion really settled in when, in his review of west African Raphia’s,
In the latest revision of the genus,
Finally, in an overview of African palms,
As indicated above, no holotype was explicitly mentioned in the protologue (
A precise understanding of R. vinifera remains unclear. From the protologue and the type specimen (Fig.
The original illustrations of one partial inflorescence and one fruiting inflorescence from two different species have led to confusion (Fig.
However, it remains unclear to what species the illustration of the fruiting partial inflorescence of
TYPE: Nigeria: Palisot de Beauvois s.n., lectotype here designated, sheet here designated: G![G00301631]; isolectotypes: BM![BM001040903]; FI![FI012077]; G![G00301637, G00301632, G00301636]; M![M0208480]; P![P00665597].
Raphia mambillensis Otedoh, 1982 -
TYPE: Nigeria, Edo State, Benin City, Jan. 1971, M.O. Otedoh 7401 (holotype: NIFOR; isotype: K![K000209303])
Acaulescent palm 7–10 m high overall (including leaves), clustering; dead leaf sheaths persistent, remains of leaf bases near the ground formed through disintegration of leaf sheath, flat, scaly, dark brown. Leaves 10–12, 7–10 m long in total, arising directly from the ground, vertically and then arched downwards towards apex; sheath 80–90 cm long, petiole 3–5 m long; rachis 4–6 m long; pinnae 100–126 per side, 0.2–1.3 m long, 5–55 mm wide, irregularly arranged in 4 planes, arching downwards towards the apex, midrib and pinnae margins armed with spines 1–2 mm long but very few to absent on older leaves. Leaves subtending inflorescence reduced. Inflorescences 3–4(–5), pendulous or semi pendulous (nodding), 0.60–1.95 m long in total; young inflorescences light green to purple green, older ones light brown to grey-brown; rachis 0.45–1.20 m long, bearing numerous pronounced bracts rarely empty, almost completely covering the inflorescence, pinkish-brown abaxially (young) to light brown (older); rachillae in two orders: first order branches 50–60, 6–18 cm long, flabellate shaped, dorsi ventrally compressed, alternating in 2 rows on each side of the rachis, smooth; second order branches 60–64, 4–12 cm long, dorsi ventrally compressed, alternating in 2 rows on each side of first order rachillae, bud flattened, smooth; Flowers solitary, exerted, inserted in one row, rarely two on each side of second order rachillae, staminate flowers distal, pistillate flowers basal. Staminate flower: calyx fused, tubular, bearing three shallow lobes; corolla comprising 3 petals, 7–10 mm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, basally connate for 1/3 of their length, oblong, apex acuminate, margins entire, smooth, stiff; stamens 6–8. Pistillate flowers: calyx fused, tubular, bearing three very shallow lobes; corolla comprising 3 petals, 2–4 mm long, separate, basely attached, 3 pointed tips, acuminate, margins irregular, smooth; staminodial ring with 6–7 staminodes, 0.5–2 mm long, fused between them, adnate to petals for ca. 1 mm; anthers sagittate, 0.2–1.5 mm long; gynoecium 3–5.5 mm long, 1.5–2 mm wide, ovary ca. 2.8–5.3 mm, 1.3–1.9 mm wide, ovoid to ovate long, completely covered with scales, developing at 3/4 height of the gynoecium, larger scales at mid portion to base; style absent or very short; stigma ca. 1 mm long, papillae not observed (flowers young). Fruits ellipsoid, oblong to obovoid, 6–9 cm long, 2.5 (young) –5 (mature) cm large, pointed beak 3.7–4.5 mm long, ca. 3 mm wide; (usually wider towards the beak), scales 8–10 rows (usually 9); seed 1 oblong, 2.5–7 cm long, 2–3 cm wide, with ruminated endosperm (Fig.
Raphia vinifera in Cameroon. A Habit along road near Oku (North West region) B Fruits C Inflorescence with old male flowers at apex. Note flabellate nature D Inflorescences, note acaulescent habit of palm and the large covering bracts. (Photos Thomas L.P. Couvreur, B-D: Couvreur 638 (WAG,YA)).
Raphia vinifera is mainly distributed in the Northwest, West and Adamaoua regions of Cameroon, where it is very abundant and even cultivated. Fewer botanical collections are known from the Delta state of Nigeria, Central African Republic and South Sudan (Fig.
The yet uncertain knowledge of Raphia vinifera’s distribution leads to an incomplete understanding of its ecology. The species occurs mainly in the transition zone between lower Guinea and the Guineo-Sudanian bioregion in the western highlands of Cameroon and the Guineo-Sudanian bioregion (Fig.
The IUCN Red List documents both species, R. vinifera and R. mambillensis, as Least Concern (LC,
Raphia vinifera belongs to the flabellate section as defined by
Raphia vinifera is an acaulescent palm, with planar, characteristic fan-shaped partial inflorescences (Figs
Numerous names have been suggested as synonyms of R. vinifera (e.g. R. mannii, R. wendlandii, R. diasticha Burret), but these are not related to the species we describe here.
Fred Stauffer indicates that the specimen conserved at the M herbarium (M0208480, information on specimen) was made by extracting a few rachillea from the holotype in G.
This study was supported by Agropolis Fondation (RAPHIA project) under the reference ID 1403-026 through the «Investissements d’avenir» program (ANR-10-LABX-0001-01; I-SITE MUSE: ANR-16-IDEX-0006) and Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-15-CE02-0002-01), both to TLPC. We are grateful to Fred Stauffer for pointing us towards the type specimen of R. vinifera in G, for general discussions about Raphia and for constructive comments on a previous version of the manuscript. We thank Valère Salako and Fred Stauffer for sharing their field observations, and Marc Appelmans for sending us scanned photos of G. Mann collections from GOET. Finally, we thank John Dransfield for comments on a previous version of the manuscript. This work was also part of the PALM-A-GOV project to TLPC, publicly funded through the ANR (the French National Research Agency) under the "Investissements d'avenir" programme with the reference ANR-10-LABX001-01 Labex Agro and coordinated by Agropolis Fondation within the I-SITE MUSE (ANR-16-IDEX-0006).
TLPC, BS and SMK conceived the study; SMK gathered the data and wrote the taxonomic description; TLPC led the writing and prepared the figures; all authors read and approved the final version.