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A reassessment of the status of Barleria sect. Cavirostrata (Acanthaceae) in tropical Africa, with a new species, B. richardsiae, described from the Tanzania–Zambia border region

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Summary

The delimitation of Barleria L. sect. Cavirostrata M. Balkwill is discussed with particular emphasis on capsule and seed characters. An expanded circumscription of the section is adopted in which all species having a (potentially) 4-seeded capsule with a conspicuous beak and with subellipsoid, subglobose or discoid seeds are included. Barleria descampsii Lindau, previously placed within sect. Stellatohirta M. Balkwill largely on account of its stellate indumentum, is transferred to sect. Cavirostrata together with the closely related B. grandipetala De Wild. and B. richardsiae I. Darbysh., the latter being formally described here. A key to the four eastern African species of the newly expanded sect. Cavirostrata is presented, together with taxonomic notes and conservation assessments for each species.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Kaj Vollesen, Henk Beentje and two anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. Roy Vickery (BM), Elmar Robbrecht (BR), Olof Ryding (C) and Siro Masinde (EA) are thanked for providing access to herbarium collections at their respective institutions. I thank Andrew Brown for producing the illustrations and Maria Vorontsova for translating the Latin diagnosis. The collecting of Barleria richardsiae by Bidgood et al. was supported by Research Permits granted by the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology.

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  1. Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK.

    Iain Darbyshire

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  1. Iain Darbyshire
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Correspondence to Iain Darbyshire.

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Darbyshire, I. A reassessment of the status of Barleria sect. Cavirostrata (Acanthaceae) in tropical Africa, with a new species, B. richardsiae, described from the Tanzania–Zambia border region. Kew Bull 63, 601–611 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-008-9081-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-008-9081-3

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