Summary
Pseudovigna sulaensis R. Clark & Burgt (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae), a new species from Sierra Leone, is described and illustrated. It is a herb from submontane grassland, with annual twining stems to several metres long, sprouting from a perennial woody rootstock. The erect inflorescences have violet flowers. The new species is only known from the Sula Mountains in northern Sierra Leone; it was found there at 10 localities, of which nine are on summits of hills. The pollen of the new species is analysed. Descriptions, illustrations and distribution maps of the other two species in the genus Pseudovigna, P. argentea (Willd.) Verdc. and P. puerarioides Ern are provided. A key to the three species of Pseudovigna is given. Notes on generic characterisation, partly through molecular analysis, are also provided. The IUCN conservation status of P. sulaensis is assessed as Vulnerable; of the other two species as Least Concern.
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Acknowledgements
The vegetation survey in the course of which the new species Pseudovigna sulaensis was discovered, was hosted and funded by African Minerals Limited, Freetown. Andy Huckbody, head of the environment team of African Minerals, is thanked for supporting botanical research. Emily Robinson and Craig Watt of SRK Consulting (UK) Limited, and Karl Schwarz and Oscar Zarzo Fuertes of WorleyParsons Europe Limited are thanked for their help. Permission to carry out botanical research in Sierra Leone was given by Mrs Kate M. B. Garnett, assistant director of the forestry division at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security. The fieldwork was assisted by James Matthews, lecturer at the Biological Sciences Department at the Njala University in Sierra Leone (head, Dr A. J. Sundufu) and by Kabbie M. T. Kanu and Julius Sesay of the Fourah Bay College Herbarium (head, Dr Abdul B. Karim). We would like to thank Dr Matt Lavin and Dr Martin Wojciechowski for including the new species in their molecular analyses of Papilionoid legumes. We are grateful to Justin Moat for assistance with production of the distribution maps, Juliet Williamson for the excellent illustration of the new species and to Melanie Thomas for translation of the species diagnosis into Latin.
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Clark, R., van der Burgt, X., Banks, H. et al. A synopsis of Pseudovigna (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) including a new species, P. sulaensis, from Sierra Leone. Kew Bull 66, 589–599 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-011-9314-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-011-9314-8