Additions to Rubiaceae for the Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flowers of Coffea kihansiensis A.P.Davis & Mvungi. Photo: S. Dawson.
The Flora of Tropical East Africa (FTEA) is a floristic account of the flowering plants and ferns native and naturalised in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The Rubiaceae section of the Flora was written in three parts by Kew botanists, B. Verdcourt and D. Bridson, from 1976 to 1991. A number of new taxa were recognised and partly described in FTEA but due to the lack of critical plant material they were not formally described.
Whilst compiling the List of Potentially Threatened Plants in the Eastern Arc/Coastal Forests Hotspot of Kenya and Tanzania in 2003, Roy Gereau (Missouri Botanical Garden) and Quentin Luke (National Museums of Kenya) found further material of these poorly described Rubiaceae and also several undescribed taxa. The aim of this project is to pool knowledge and specimen resources from international herbaria (such as Kew, Belgium, Uppsala, and Missouri) and describe as many of these species as possible. This is undertaken within a collaborative network.
Two new species of Aidia and one new species of Polysphaeria have so far been described and illustrated at Kew. These species will be published in 2006. Two new species of Coffea from Tanzania were published in 2004.
Project Team
Project Leader: Dawson, Sally
Herbarium
Diane Bridson, Aaron Davis, Sally Dawson
Project Partners and Collaborators
Kenya
Coastal Forest Conservation Unit, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi
USA
Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri
Funders
USA
Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri, CEPF grant for plant red listing in the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests Hotspot