Summary
The Gilbertiodendron ogoouense species complex consists of 14 tree species. Eight species are here newly described and one is here reinstated: G. bambolense Burgt; G. breteleri Burgt; G. ebo Burgt & Mackinder; G. ecoukense (Pellegr.) Burgt; G. maximum Burgt & Wieringa; G. minkebense Burgt & Estrella; G. quinquejugum Burgt; G. scutatum Wieringa & Estrella and G. sulfureum Burgt. Five species in the complex were already recognised as accepted: G. brachystegioides (Harms) J. Léonard; G. klainei (Pierre ex Pellegr.) J. Léonard; G. newberyi Burgt; G. ngouniense (Pellegr.) J. Léonard and G. ogoouense (Pellegr.) J. Léonard. All 14 species are medium-sized or large trees of evergreen rain forest on well-drained or periodically inundated soil, at 0 – 900 m altitude. Each of the 14 species is distributed in one or more of the following Central African countries: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), Angola (Cabinda) and Congo (Kinshasa). Included are a key, a table comparing the main morphological characters, illustrations drawn to the same scale and distribution maps of all species. The conservation status of all species is assessed according to IUCN categories and criteria: G. maximum is classified as Critically Endangered, G. ebo and G. newberyi as Endangered, G. breteleri, G. klainei, G. minkebense, G. ngouniense and G. scutatum as Vulnerable, and the remaining six species as Least Concern.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
African Plants Database (2014). Version 3.4.0. Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève and South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Retrieved March 2014, from <http://www.ville-ge.ch>.
Aubréville, A. (1968). Flore du Gabon 15, Légumineuses — Césalpinioidées. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
____ (1970). Flore du Cameroun 9, Légumineuses — Césalpinioidées. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
Baker, E. G. (1928). Leguminosae. In: A. W. Exell, Mr. John Gossweiler’s Plants from Angola and Portuguese Congo. J. Bot. 66, Suppl. 1: 98 – 159.
____ (1930). The Leguminosae of Tropical Africa. Part III. Unitas Press, Ostend.
Beentje, H. (2010). The Kew Plant Glossary. An illustrated dictionary of plant terms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Burgt, X. M. van der (1997). Explosive seed dispersal of the rainforest tree Tetraberlinia moreliana (Leguminosae – Caesalpinioideae) in Gabon. J. Trop. Ecol. 13: 145 – 151.
____, Eyakwe, M. & Motoh, J. (2012). Gilbertiodendron newberyi (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), a new tree species from Korup National Park, Cameroon. Kew Bull. 67: 51 – 57.
Estrella, M. de la, Devesa, J. A. & Wieringa, J. J. (2012). A morphological re-evaluation of the taxonomic status of the genus Pellegriniodendron (Harms) J. Léonard (Leguminosae – Caesalpinioideae – Detarieae) and its inclusion in Gilbertiodendron J. Léonard. S. African J. Bot. 78: 257 – 265.
____ & ____ (2014). The Genus Gilbertiodendron (Leguminosae — Caesalpinioideae) in Western Africa. Syst. Bot. 39 (1): 160 – 192.
____, Wieringa, J. J., Mackinder, B., Burgt, X. M. van der, Devesa, J. A. & Bruneau, A. (2014). Phylogenetic analysis of the African genus Gilbertiodendron J. Léonard and related genera (Leguminosae – Caesalpinioideae – Detarieae). Int. J. Pl. Sci. 175: 975 – 985.
Geocat (2014). Geospatial Conservation Assessment Tool. http://geocat.kew.org. Accessed Feb. 2014.
Hardy, O., Born, C., Budde, K., Daïnou, K., Dauby, G., Duminil, J., Ewédje, E.-E. B. K., Heurtz, M., Koffi, G. K., Micheneau, C., Ndiade-Bourobou, D., Piñeiro, R., Lowe, A. J., Poncet, V. & Gomes, C. (2014). Comparative phylogeography of African rain forest trees: a review of genetic signatures of vegetation history in the Guinea-Congolian region. Scripta Bot. Belg. 52: 179. (conference abstract)
Harms, H. (1907). Leguminosae africanae IV. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 40 (1): 15 – 44.
____ (1922). Leguminosae africanae VIII. Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 72 (8): 145 – 156.
Hawthorne, W. & Jongkind, C. (2006). Woody plants of western African forests. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Hutchinson, J. & Dalziel, J. M. (1958). Flora of West Tropical Africa, second edition, vol. 1, part 2. Crown agents for oversea governments and administrations, London.
Index Kewensis (1953). Index Kewensis Supplementum XI, 1941 – 1950. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. http://www.iucnredlist.org.
Keay, R. J. W. (1989). Trees of Nigeria. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Léonard, J. (1952a). Les genres Macrolobium Schreb. et Gilbertiodendron J. Léonard au Congo Belge (Caesalpiniaceae). Bull. Jard. Bot. État Bruxelles XXII: 185 – 191.
____ (1952b). 39. Gilbertiodendron. In : Flore du Congo Belge et du Rwanda-Urundi: Spermatophytes. Vol. III: 428 – 436. INEAC, Bruxelles.
____ (1954). Notulae Systematicae XIV. Les genres Macrolobium Schreb. et Gilbertiodendron J. Léonard en Afrique Tropicale. Bull. Jard. Bot. Etat Bruxelles XXIV: 57 – 61.
____ (1957). Genera des Cynometreae et des Amherstieae africaines (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae). Essai de blastogenie appliqué à la systématique. Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci. Belgique 30 (2): 1 – 314.
Letouzey, R. & Mouranche, R. (1952). Ekop du Cameroun. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne.
Lewis, G., Schrire, B., Mackinder, B. & Lock, M. (2005). Legumes of the World. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Louis, J. & Fouarge, M. (1949). Le genre Macrolobium. Essences forestières et bois du Congo VI. Publ. INEAC, Bruxelles.
Newbery, D. M., Burgt, X. M. van der & Moravie, M.-A. (2004). Structure and inferred dynamics of a large grove of Microberlinia bisulcata trees in central African rain forest: the possible role of periods of multiple disturbance events. J. Trop. Ecol. 20: 131 – 143.
____, ____, Worbes, M. & Chuyong, G. B. (2013). Transient dominance in a central African rain forest. Ecol. Monogr. 83 (3): 339 – 382.
Peccoud, J., Piatscheck, F., Yockteng, R., Garcia, M., Sauve, M., Djiéto-Lordon, C., Harris, D. J., Wieringa, J. J., Breteler, F. J., Born, C., McKey, D. & Blatrix, R. (2013). Multi-locus phylogenies of the genus Barteria (Passifloraceae) portray complex patterns in the evolution of myrmecophytism. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 66 (3): 824 – 832.
Pellegrin, F. (1920). De quelques Macrolobium (Légumineuses – Césalpiniées) du Gabon. Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. 6: 551 – 554.
____ (1923). Notes sur quelques Césalpiniées du Congo. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 69: 742 – 746.
____ (1924). La flore du Mayombe d’après les récoltes de M. Georges Le Testu. Mém. Soc. Linn. Normandie 26: 1 – 125.
____ (1941). Les Macrolobium (Caesalpiniées) du Gabon. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 88: 499 – 510.
____ (1949). Les Légumineuses du Gabon. Mém. Inst. Etud. Centrafr. No. 1: 41 – 60.
Saint Aubin, G. de (1963). La forêt du Gabon. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne.
Sosef, M. S. M., Wieringa, J. J., Jongkind, C. C. H., Achoundong, G., Azizet Issembé, Y., Bedigian, D., Berg, R. G. van den, Breteler, F. J., Cheek, M., Degreef, J., Faden, R. B., Goldblatt, P., Maesen, L. J. G. van der, Ngok Banak, L., Niangadouma, R., Nzabi, T., Nziengui, B., Rogers, Z. S., Stévart, T., Valkenburg, J. L. C. H. van, Walters, G. & Wilde, J .J. F. E. de (2006). Check-list des plantes vasculaires du Gabon (Checklist of Gabonese vascular plants). Scripta Bot. Belg. 35: 1 – 438.
Valkenburg, J. Van, Ketner, P. & Wilks, C. (1998). A floristic inventory and preliminary vegetation classification of the mixed semi-evergreen rainforest in the Minkébé region, North East Gabon. Adansonia, sér. 3, 20: 139 – 162.
Velayos, M., Aedo, C., Cabezas, F., Estrella, M. de la, Fero, M. & Barberá, P. (2010). Flora de Guinea Ecuatorial, Vol. V, Leguminosae. Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid.
Velzen, R. van & Wieringa, J. J. (2014). Rinorea calcicola (Violaceae), an endangered new species from south-eastern Gabon. Phytotaxa 167 (3): 267 – 275.
Wieringa, J. J. (1999). Monopetalanthus exit. A systematic study of Aphanocalyx, Bikinia, Icuria, Michelsonia and Tetraberlinia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae). Wageningen Agr. Univ. Pap. 9 – 4: I – XVI, 1 – 320.
____ & Mackinder, B. A. (2012). Novitates Gabonensis 79: Hymenostegia elegans and Hymenostegia robusta, two new threatened caesalpinioid legume species from Gabon. Nordic J. Bot. 30 (2): 144 – 152.
Acknowledgements
The staff of the herbaria BM, BR, BRLU, IEC, K, MPU, P, PRE, SCA, WAG and YA facilitated visits to study the collections. The herbaria mentioned in the methods section prepared loans of their collections. The Bentham-Moxon Trust at K funded a field visit by Xander van der Burgt to Cameroon which resulted in the collection of the type specimens of Gilbertiodendron ebo. Manuel de la Estrella was funded by a Juan de la Cierva grant of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to Anne Bruneau; visited K herbarium under a European–funded Synthesis grant and received a travel award from the Québec Centre for Biodiversity Science. Martin Cheek from K is thanked for continuing encouragement. Katherine Challis from IPNI at K gave advice on nomenclature. Theo Damen from WAG provided photos of LBV specimens.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
van der Burgt, X.M., Mackinder, B.A., Wieringa, J.J. et al. The Gilbertiodendron ogoouense species complex (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), Central Africa. Kew Bull 70, 29 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-015-9579-4
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-015-9579-4