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Diclis tenella<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
Gerardiina angolensis<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
<strong>266</strong> Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
Limosella australis<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
Digitalis purpurea<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
Graderia scabra<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson
Melasma calycinum<br />
Del. Christine<br />
Grey-Wilson<br />
Hedbergia abyssinica<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Lindernia nummulariifolia<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Halleria lucida<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Cycnium adonense<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
267
SCROPHULARIACEAE<br />
Erect or scrambling perennial herb from a woody rootstock, with several<br />
much-branched hairy stems; leaves opposite, more or less sessile, thick,<br />
rigid, spreading, 3–12 x 1–2 mm, margins serrate to crenate; flowers single,<br />
alternate, axillary, white to pale pink or purplish, bell-shaped, equally<br />
5-lobed; in open grasslands or on forest margins; 2,150–2,440 m. Nyika<br />
Plateau northwards to Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya. A monotypic<br />
genus confined to tropical Africa.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 156 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, below Sangule Kopje, 7 km S.W. of Chelinda Camp,<br />
2,255 m, 1970, Brummitt 10759 (K, SRGH).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, near source of Chire River, 2,135 m, 1952, White<br />
2748 (K).<br />
No country given. 1955, Lees 72 (UZL).<br />
Limosella australis R.Br. <br />
Limosella subulata Ives<br />
Small creeping or submerged tufted amphibious herb; leaves cylindrical or<br />
subulate (awl-shaped), 15–80 x 0.3–15 mm; flowers white, blue beneath,<br />
on stalks 5–35 mm long; fruit a round capsule 2–2.5 mm diameter; in shallow<br />
lakes or on muddy lakesides; up to 2,340 m in the Flora zambesiaca<br />
area. Zimbabwe and Malawi; also in N. America, Europe, Australia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 73 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Lake Kaulime, 2,150 m, 1958, Robson & Angus<br />
320 (K, LISC, SRGH).<br />
Lindernia nummulariifolia (D.Don) Wettst. <br />
Erect annual herb 30–140 mm tall, stems simple or basally branched; leaves<br />
subsessile, ovate, ovate to round, 9–15 x 5–13 mm, margins serrate to crenate,<br />
lower surface with a few hairs; flowers single in axils, stalks 3–14 mm<br />
long, corolla blue to violet, ca 6 mm long; fruit a round to cylindric, beaked<br />
capsule; on wet soils in marshes and riversides, in crevices on granite outcrops;<br />
up to 1,600 m. From Zimbabwe through much of tropical Africa;<br />
also through southern Asia to China.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 65 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979); Dembo Bridge, 2000, Winter 4032 (MAL, PRE, UZL).<br />
Melasma calycinum (Hiern) Hemsl. <br />
Velvitsia calycina Hiern<br />
Erect perennial herb to 0.75 m tall, stems leafy, simple, rarely branched;<br />
leaves opposite, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 25–67 x 7–28 mm, margins crenate<br />
to toothed or lobed, hispid-scabrid on both surfaces; flowers alternate<br />
or clustered terminally, yellow to orange or white with reddish or purplish<br />
veining, 5-lobed; in swamps, marshes, and wet grassland along rivers; 1,200–<br />
2,250 m. Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and Angola.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 84 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill 1979).<br />
Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (Hochst.) Benth. <br />
Macrosiphon fistulosus Hochst.<br />
Erect, branched annual herb 50–500 mm tall; leaves pinnatisect, the segments<br />
filiform, less than 1 mm wide; flowers solitary, stalk 9–20 mm long,<br />
corolla white, cream, pale pink or pale blue, 5-lobed, with a tube 25–30 mm<br />
long; on peaty soils over sheetrock, on or between rocks in shallow, slowrunning<br />
rivers or streams, but more frequently near rivers and in grassy<br />
swamps; 600–1,750 m. Widespread from W. Africa, Chad, and Sudan,<br />
through Central and E. Africa S. to South Africa; also in Madagascar, New<br />
Guinea, and Australia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 135 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 1903, McClounie 96 (K).<br />
Sibthorpia europaea L. <br />
Sibthorpia prostrata Salisb.; Sibthorpia europaea var. africana Hook.;<br />
Sibthorpia australis Hutch.<br />
Prostrate, creeping herb, rooting at nodes, all parts hairy; leaves roundish,<br />
deeply cordate, 5–15 mm diameter, petioles 5–30 mm long; flowers single,<br />
small, in leaf axils, stalks 2–5 mm long, corolla to 2 mm long, yellow to<br />
purple; on streamsides, river-banks, and moist areas, usually in shade; up<br />
to 2,150 m. Zimbabwe and Zambia; also in Europe and the Azores, and<br />
268 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
from Ethiopia to Tanzania.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 75 (1990).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, below Rest House on path to N. Rukuru (Chisanga)<br />
Waterfall, 2,150 m, 1958, Robson 402 (K).<br />
Sopubia eminii Engl.<br />
Sopubia trifida sensu Skan in F.T.A.<br />
Delicate erect, scabrid, annual herb, stems simple to much-branched basally,<br />
obscurely angled; upper leaves undivided with the lower leaves trifid<br />
or 5-fid; flowering stalks 5–9 mm long, flowers yellow or white with a<br />
purple centre, calyx lobe margins only slightly woolly; in woodland, grassy<br />
places, and hillsides; up to 2,300 m. Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania,<br />
Kenya, and Uganda.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 146 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, S. of Chelinda above Mwenyenyesi Dam, 2,200–<br />
2,300 m, 1977, Grosvenor & Renz 1126 (K, SRGH).<br />
Sopubia karaguensis Oliv. var. karaguensis<br />
Sopubia welwitschii Engl. var. micrantha Engl.; Sopubia fastigiata Hiern<br />
Erect robust perennial herb to 1 m tall, stems pubescent to long-pilose or<br />
more or less hairless; leaves undivided or 3- to 5-fid, often with smaller<br />
leaves in axils, hairy and scabrid; flowering stalks 0–6.5 mm long, flowers<br />
pink, mauve or purple, outer calyx densely woolly, 6–11 mm long; in damp<br />
areas; up to 1,450 m. Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania,<br />
Kenya, and Uganda.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 149 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, near base of Nganda mountain, 1977,<br />
Grosvenor & Renz 1155 (K, SRGH); Mbuzinandi, 2000, Salubeni &<br />
Mwanyambo 6813 (MAL); without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).<br />
Sopubia mannii Skan var. mannii (Engl. & Gilg) Hepper <br />
Erect, rigid, scabrid branched herb 0.2–1.5 m tall, stems very leafy, arising<br />
from a woody rootstock; leaves linear to filiform, undivided, closely arranged<br />
on stem, midrib often obscure; flowering stalk 2–10 mm long, flowers<br />
pink to mauve to purple, calyx hairy; in grassland; 1,500–2,600 m. Zimbabwe,<br />
Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Tanzania, Ivory<br />
Coast, and Cameroon.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 144 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Nganda Peak, 2,600 m, 1969, Pawek 2074 (K).<br />
Sopubia mannii Skan var. tenuifolia (Engl. & Gilg) Hepper<br />
Sopubia dregeana var. tenuifolia Engl. & Gilg; Sopubia trifida forma<br />
humilis Engl. & Gilg<br />
As for var. mannii, but with the leaves undivided or 3- to 5-fid, more openly<br />
arranged, and the flowering stalks 12–18 mm long; in wet and dry grassland,<br />
bordering rivers, and among rocks; 1,000–2,500 m. Mozambique,<br />
Zimbabwe, and Botswana northwards to Angola, Zambia, Uganda, and<br />
Kenya; also in Sierra Leone.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 145 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 25.6 km E. of Rest House, 2,438 m, 1957, Boughey<br />
1635 (K).<br />
Sopubia ramosa (Hochst.) Hochst.<br />
Sopubia similis Skan in F.T.A.<br />
Erect, scabrid, much-branched perennial shrublet, stems branching, densely<br />
hairy; leaves linear to lanceolate, undivided or trifid, scabrid, midrib prominent<br />
below; flowering stalks 1.5–4.5 mm long; flowers pink, lilac or lavender,<br />
calyx shortly scabrid-pubescent without; on forest margins, in open<br />
woodland or grassy hillsides and plains; from almost sea level in Mozambique<br />
to over 2,200 m. Zimbabwe and Mozambique, though Central and<br />
W. Africa, to Sudan and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 145 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Dembo Bridge, 2000, Thera 3002 (MAL);<br />
Chosi Viewpoint, 2000, Mwanyambo 482 (MAL).<br />
Zambia. Lundazi District, Nyika Plateau, Kangampande Mt. (Chowo area),<br />
2,130 m, 1952, White 2743 (BR, K).<br />
Sopubia simplex (Hochst.) Hochst.<br />
Sopubia dregeana Benth., nom. illeg.
20 mm<br />
Rhamphicarpa fistulosa<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
Sopubia mannii var. mannii<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
10 mm<br />
Striga asiatica<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
7 mm<br />
Sibthorpia europaea<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
Veronica abyssinica<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
269
SELAGINACEAE<br />
Erect perennial herb to 450 mm tall, stems several, from a woody base,<br />
angled, many-ribbed; leaves few, narrowly linear, undivided, more or less<br />
appressed to the stem; flowers pink, pale mauve or lilac, flowering stalk 6–<br />
13 mm long, calyx verrucose to hispid, lobes woolly on margins only; mostly<br />
in burnt or moist grassland, river-banks, swamps or marshes; 600–2,280 m.<br />
From South Africa northwards throughout most of tropical Africa.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 144 (1990).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, 6 miles S.W. of Rest House, 2,150 m, 1958,<br />
Robson & Angus 362 (K); Domwe Viewpoint, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo<br />
6796 (MAL); Juniper Forest area, 2,250 m, 1967, Richards 22657 (K).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, without locality, 2,100 m, 1955, Lees 103 (K).<br />
Striga asiatica (L.) Kuntze <br />
Sparsely branched herb 150–200 mm tall, branching from above the middle,<br />
densely glandular-sticky; leaves ascending, 8–16 mm long,
Brucea antidysenterica<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Hebenstretia angolensis<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
20 mm<br />
Selago thyrsoidea<br />
Del. Christine<br />
Grey-Wilson<br />
Physalis peruviana<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
271
SIMAROUBACEAE<br />
Selago thyrsoidea Baker var. thyrsoidea <br />
Selago nyikensis Rolfe; Selago thyrsoidea Baker var. nyikensis (Rolfe) Brenan<br />
Suffrutex with several tufted stems 0.2–1 m tall, from a woody rootstock;<br />
leaves sharply ascending, more or less fascicled, linear to oblanceolate, apex<br />
acute, margin entire; flowers in few-flowered racemes, pale to deep violetblue,<br />
bracts oblong-lanceolate, hairy; in montane grassland, often among<br />
rocks; 2,100–2,450 m. A near-endemic, known only from the Nyika Pla-<br />
Brucea antidysenterica J.F.Mill <br />
Trichilia siderotricha Chiov.<br />
Small, sparsely-branched tree to 6 m tall, twigs with prominent leaf-scars<br />
and golden-brown hairs; leaves alternate, imparipinnate, with 3–5 pairs of<br />
leaflets, leaflets hairy above and below, margins wavy; flowers in small<br />
clusters widely spaced along an axillary spike; fruit in clusters, red; in<br />
*Physalis peruviana L. <br />
Cape gooseberry; Chichewa: ntongo, jamu<br />
Perennial herb or shrublet to 0.9 m; leaves more or less opposite, ovatetriangular,<br />
ca 100 x 60 mm, softly hairy, very shallowly toothed or lobed,<br />
petiole to 25 mm; flowers solitary, axillary, conical, mustard yellow; fruit a<br />
greenish to yellow berry completely enclosed by a papery calyx to 30 mm<br />
long; a weed of disturbed areas, roadsides, and fallow land, sometimes<br />
cultivated. A native of S. America, now widespread in much of Africa. The<br />
ripe fruit is edible, tasty, and often used to make jam or a stewed dessert.<br />
Source. Banda & Morris (1986: 57).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq.<br />
Shrub to ca 1.5 m tall, stems densely hairy and bearing many straight spines<br />
to 12 mm long; leaves ca 180 x 160 mm, deeply lobed, hairy and bearing<br />
slender spines to 15 mm long; flowers white, ca 16 x 30 mm, peduncle<br />
0.5 mm long, pedicels ca 11 mm long; fruit round, pale yellow or whitish,<br />
streaked green, ca 35 mm diameter; in forest clearings and disturbed areas,<br />
often associated with pine plantations. Widespread throughout Africa; also<br />
in Brazil. Thought possibly to have been introduced to Africa several hundred<br />
years ago.<br />
Source. Bukenya & Carasco (1995: 51).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979); road to Domwe Viewpoint, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6794<br />
(MAL); road to Juniper Forest, 7,800’, 1975, Pawek 9949 (White et al. 2001:<br />
553).<br />
Zambia. Nyika National Park, Manyenjere, Kasoma, and Chowo Forests<br />
(Dowsett-Lemaire 1985: 323).<br />
Solanum anguivi Lam.<br />
Solanum indicum auctt., non L.<br />
Perennial shrub 2–5 m tall, stems with stellate hairs and some almost conical<br />
prickles; leaves elliptic-ovate, 100–200 x 50–100 mm, hairy, with or<br />
without a few prickles, sinuate to shallowly lobed, base truncate to cordate;<br />
flowers white, ca 10 x 10 mm; fruit small, round, in clusters, shiny,<br />
orange or red when ripe; in montane forest, secondary montane scrub,<br />
disturbed areas in shade. Widespread in Africa; also in Madagascar and<br />
India. Grown in tropical Africa for its fruit. Some authors have recognized<br />
a number of subspecies.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973); Bukenya & Carasco (1995: 54).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, forest 4 km W. of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt<br />
& Synge 74 (K, MAL, SRGH, FHO, EA); road to Domwe, 2000, Winter<br />
4084 (MAL, PRE); Mpopoti Hill, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6787<br />
(MAL).<br />
*Solanum mammosum L.<br />
Shrub to 1.5 m tall, stems densely hairy, with slightly recurved prickles<br />
5 mm long; leaves ca 110 x 90 mm, lobed to about half the width of the<br />
272 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
SIMAROUBACEAE<br />
SOLANACEAE<br />
teau and the Mafinga Hills.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 8(2): 171 (1990); Hilliard (1999: 222).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 7,000’, 1896, Whyte 144 (K, holo.); road from<br />
Chelinda to Kasaramba, just past Chelinda Bridge turning, 2,410 m, 1970,<br />
Brummitt 10721 (K); Chelinda Falls, 1981, Salubeni 3061 (E, MO, SRGH);<br />
Chelinda Bridge, 2000, Mwanyambo 538 (MAL).<br />
Zambia. Nyika, without locality, 1966, Fanshawe 9735 (K, SRGH).<br />
understorey of montane rainforest; 1,400–2,200 m. Malawi and Zambia<br />
northwards to W. Africa and Ethiopia. Rare on Nyika.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 212 (1960); Dowsett-Lemaire (1985: 390).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Kasyaula and Zovochipolo Forests (Dowsett-Lemaire<br />
1985).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Kasoma Forest (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985).<br />
leaf, hairy on both sides, with prickles on midrib and veins; flowers ca<br />
12 mm long, violet to blue; fruit to 50 mm wide, ?yellow, bearing a terminal<br />
‘nipple’; in disturbed habitats or cultivated. Native to the Caribbean<br />
region, cultivated as a medicine or as a cockroach poison. Poisonous if<br />
eaten.<br />
Source. Bukenya & Carasco (1995: 51).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
*Solanum nigrum L. <br />
Solanum guineense (L.) Lam.; Solanum suffruticosum Schousb. ex Willd.<br />
black nightshade; Chichewa: mnadzi; Yao: mnesi; Tumbuka: msaka,<br />
musaka<br />
Erect branched annual herb 0.6–1 m tall, completely without prickles; leaves<br />
alternate, ovate-elliptic, margin entire or lobed, glabrous; flowers stellate,<br />
8–18 mm diameter, white with yellow centre; fruit round, purplish to black<br />
when ripe, peduncles erect to spreading, pedicels much shorter than the<br />
peduncles, recurved; a weedy plant of disturbed areas. Regarded as indigenous<br />
to Eurasia, but possibly also natural in Africa. The leaves are cooked<br />
as ndiwo (a vegetable); the ripe berries are eaten, but the green berries are<br />
regarded as poisonous.<br />
Source. Bukenya & Carasco (1995: 46).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979); Chelinda Bridge, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6773 (MAL).<br />
Solanum panduriforme E.Mey.<br />
apple of Sodom, bitter apple; Chichewa: nthula, mathika, ntunduwele;<br />
Yao: ntungwisa<br />
Spiny perennial shrubby herb to 1.2 m; leaves simple, alternate, to 125 x<br />
60 mm, oblong-lanceolate, sinuate, undersurface densely hairy, few spines<br />
along midrib below; flowers cup-shaped, lilac to purple; fruit a yellow or<br />
orange berry to 70 mm diameter, poisonous; a weed, often an indicator of<br />
overgrazing, in disturbed areas, roadsides. Eastern and Central Africa; also<br />
in Arabia and India. Roots used to treat boils; the fruit is also used medicinally,<br />
used to cure mange on dogs.<br />
Source. J. Williamson (1975: 216); Banda & Morris (1986: 142).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Solanum schumannianum Dammer<br />
Solanum ulugurense Dammer; Solanum subulatum C.H.Wright<br />
Shrub or small tree to 4 m tall, stems unarmed, but usually with bristly<br />
hairs; leaves to 140 x 50 mm, lanceolate-elliptic, acute to acuminate, entire,<br />
undersurface more or less hairless; flowers white, fruit ca 10 mm diameter;<br />
in light shade in forest or on forest margins. Malawi, Tanzania,<br />
and Kenya.<br />
Source. White et al. (2001: 554).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Zovochipolo, without collecting details (Dowsett-<br />
Lemaire 1985: 335).
Cola greenwayi var. greenwayi<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Dombeya burgessiae<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Solanum nigrum<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Hermannia tigreensis<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
273
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Ficalhoa laurifolia<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
274 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
Melochia corchorifolia<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
3 mm<br />
3,5 mm<br />
Strychnos lucens<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Ternstroemia polypetala<br />
Del. Mary Grierson<br />
20 mm
Cola greenwayi Brenan var. greenwayi <br />
Cola microcarpa Brenan<br />
Small understorey tree or canopy tree 25–30 m tall, bole shallowly fluted;<br />
young leaves red, petiole to 55 mm long with a swollen, bent pulvinus just<br />
below the lamina, set with brown hairs, leaves elliptic to oblanceolate, to<br />
150 x 70 mm, hairless; in evergreen forest; 1,500–2,200 m. South Africa<br />
through Zambia and Malawi to Kenya.<br />
Source. White et al. (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill 1979).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Chowo Forest, 1956, Chapman 294 (White et al.<br />
2001).<br />
Dombeya burgessiae Gerrard ex Harv. <br />
Dombeya nyasica Exell; Dombeya johnstonii Baker; Dombeya lasiostylis<br />
K.Schum.<br />
Tumbuka: mnangali<br />
Sparsely branched shrub 2–4 m tall, branchlets densely hairy; leaves 3-lobed<br />
(rarely 5-lobed), margin coarsely serrate, hairy on both sides; flowers in<br />
several-flowered umbels, pink (sometimes white); on margins of montane<br />
forest, in forest regrowth, and in riverine vegetation; 800–2,200 m. South<br />
Africa to Angola, D.R.C., and Kenya. The bark of young shoots is used to<br />
make string.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973); Seyani (1991).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, E. foot of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt & Synge<br />
102 (K, MAL, SRGH, FHO).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, without precise locality, 1952, White 2568 (FHO).<br />
Dombeya kirkii Mast.<br />
Shrub to 2 m or a tree to 15 m tall; leaves unlobed to very shallowly 3lobed,<br />
35–180 x 20–130 mm, apex acuminate, margin variously toothed,<br />
sparsely hairy above, more densely below; flowers white, spreading widely<br />
at maturity; in low-altitude woodland, often along rivers. South Africa<br />
(Limpopo Province) to Ethiopia. In the Flora zambesiaca region this species<br />
is confined to hot, low-altitude bush, a vegetation type not associated<br />
with the Plateau. Seyani (1991) does not record D. kirkii from central or<br />
northern Malawi and this record should be regarded with some caution.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chisimuka, 2001, without collecting details<br />
(Patel & Overton 2002: 33).<br />
Dombeya rotundifolia (Hochst.) Planch.<br />
Chichewa: naduwa, nchiu, mchiu; Yao: chiwalika<br />
Hermannia glanduligera K.Schum.<br />
Perennial herb or shrublet to 1 m tall; flowers pink to red; river-banks and<br />
open woodland, in hot, drier parts of the region. Like many of McClounie’s<br />
collections, this would appear to be mislocated and was probably collected<br />
Strychnos lucens Baker <br />
Climbing shrub or liane 3–20 m high, branches with paired tendrils; leaves<br />
paired, narrowly ovate to elliptic, leathery, shining dark green, 3-veined<br />
from the base; flowers in axillary clusters; fruit hard, round, 15–70 mm<br />
diameter, yellow/orange when ripe; in riverine forest or on rocky hills in<br />
Ficalhoa laurifolia Hiern <br />
Chichewa: m’ndopi, ndopa; Tumbuka: mlunganya<br />
Large tree 6–45 m tall, bark reddish brown with deep longitudinal fissures;<br />
leaves alternate, lanceolate to ovate, margins finely serrated; flowers in<br />
loose clusters on twigs below the leaves; in evergreen rainforest, riverine<br />
forest, and streamsides; a dominant emergent in the eastern escarpment<br />
forests of Nyika; 1,350–1,800 m. Malawi, Zambia, and Angola to Uganda.<br />
STERCULIACEAE<br />
Excluded species<br />
STRYCHNACEAE<br />
THEACEAE<br />
Tree to 9 m tall, usually deciduous, branches hairless; leaves roundish to<br />
ovate, more or less unlobed, base cordate, apex round, margin irregularly<br />
toothed, upper surface scabrid (sandpapery), lower surface finely hairy;<br />
flowers white, aging to brown; in various types of woodland. Widespread<br />
in southern and eastern Africa, from South Africa to Ethiopia. Seyani (1991)<br />
does not record this species from northern Malawi and this record should<br />
perhaps be regarded with some suspicion.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Dombeya torrida (J.F.Gmel.) Bamps subsp. erythroleuca<br />
(K.Schum.) Seyani<br />
Tree 7–20 m; leaves ovate, not lobed, narrowing gradually to a short point,<br />
margin finely serrate, upper surface somewhat scabrid, lower surface sparsely<br />
hairy; flowers white or pink, red-veined; in gaps or on margins of evergreen<br />
forests; 1,850–2,450 m. Zambia (Nyika Plateau), Malawi, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 1(2): 525 (1961); Brummitt (1972); Seyani (1991).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, without precise locality, 1953, Chapman 116 (BR,<br />
FHO, K); 3 km E. of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt & Synge 88 (K, MAL, SRGH).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, 3 km N. of Rest House, 1955, Lees 97 (K).<br />
Hermannia tigreensis Hochst. ex A.Rich. <br />
Branching annual herb to 300 mm tall, hairy throughout; leaves to 40 x<br />
15 mm, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, thinly hairy on both sides; flowers<br />
single in leaf axils, petals yellow, 3–5 mm long; capsule 3–4 mm long, ovoidtruncate;<br />
in soil pockets in rocky outcrops and in riverine fringes. Zimbabwe<br />
to W. Africa and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 1(2): 546 (1961).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
Melochia corchorifolia L. <br />
Tonga: chibwathiko, chikondavu<br />
Erect annual herb to ca 2 m tall; leaves up to 70 x 45 mm, thinly hairy, at<br />
least on the veins below; flowers numerous, in dense terminal clusters, petals<br />
ca 8 mm long, white with yellow at the inner base; fruit a 5-valved<br />
capsule ca 5 mm diameter; usually a weed of cultivation. Circumtropical.<br />
Leaves eaten as a spinach and also used for smoking.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 1(2): 535 (1961).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Mwenembwe, 1903, McClounie 135 (K).<br />
near Lake Malawi.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 1(2): 545 (1961).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Mwenembwe, 1903, McClounie 73 (K).<br />
moist woodlands; 0–1,700 m. Zimbabwe to Angola, D.R.C., and E. Africa.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 7(1): 363 (1983); White et al. (2001: 343).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Chisanga Falls, 1959, Robinson 3094 (BR, K, M,<br />
PRE, SRGH).<br />
Source. White et al. (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Chisanga Falls (White et al. 2001); eastern escarpment<br />
forests (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985).<br />
Ternstroemia polypetala Melchior <br />
Tree 8–12 m tall (in E. Africa) with a flattish crown; leaves borne in upright<br />
clusters; a canopy tree in mist forest and upland rainforest; in<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
275<br />
STERCULIACEAE
THYMELAEACEAE<br />
Nyamkhowa Forest of Nyika it is a 30 m tall emergent; 1,800–2,300 m.<br />
Northern Malawi (Nyika and Viphya), southern Tanzania (Ulugurus), and<br />
Cameroon.<br />
Dais cotinifolia L. <br />
pompon tree<br />
Small to medium deciduous tree 3–10 m tall, bark grey, smoothish; leaves<br />
opposite, simple, elliptic, glabrous; flowers in terminal compact clusters,<br />
pink, showy; seeds developing in the bases of the old flowers; in or on<br />
margins of montane forest; 1,200–2,400 m. South Africa to Tanzania. A<br />
fine ornamental tree.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979); near Nganda, 2,400 m, Dowsett-Lemaire 308 (White et al. 2001:<br />
566).<br />
Gnidia chrysantha (Solms-Laub.) Gilg<br />
Gnidia flavus Rendle<br />
Shrubby suffrutex 200–750 mm tall, with numerous sparsely-branched<br />
stems, petiole 0.5–1 mm long; leaves alternate, linear to oblanceolate, midrib<br />
prominent below, hairless; flowers in a terminal head of 30–50 flowers,<br />
flowering parts in 4s, calyx lobes brilliant yellow to red, petals absent; in<br />
seasonally wet grassland, montane grassland or wooded grassland; 400–<br />
2,100 m. Zimbabwe and Mozambique to Guinea, Sudan, and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973); F.T.E.A. Thymelaeaceae: 26 (1978).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, half way from Nganda to Kawozya, 1972,<br />
Brummitt & Synge 167 (K).<br />
Gnidia fastigiata Rendle<br />
Shrublet to 400 mm tall; leaves alternate, sessile, linear-lanceolate, hairy;<br />
flowers 1–4 in leaf axils, pale blue, whitish or yellow, flowering parts in 4s,<br />
petals (6–)8, linear; in montane grassland on rocky hillsides, 1,000–3,000 m.<br />
Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973); F.T.E.A. Thymelaeaceae: 21 (1978).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, head of Mondwe Valley, 1972, Brummitt &<br />
Synge 247 (K).<br />
Gnidia glauca (Fresen.) Gilg<br />
Lasiosiphon glaucus Fresen.<br />
Large shrub or small tree to 15 m, with a spreading crown; leaves alternate<br />
or subopposite, lanceolate to oblanceolate, 30–60 x 6–20 mm, glaucousgreen,<br />
finely hairy near base, otherwise hairless; flowers in dense terminal<br />
heads, orange to golden yellow; frequent on margins of montane forest<br />
and in wooded montane grassland; 1,500–3,300 m. Malawi and Zambia<br />
northwards to Nigeria and Ethiopia. The largest member of the genus.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973); F.T.E.A. Thymelaeaceae: 32 (1978).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, N.W. foot of Nganda, 2,350 m, 1972,<br />
Brummitt & Synge 6 (K, MAL, FHO, BR, UPS, P); Juniper Forest, 1946,<br />
Brass 17181 (FHO); 1982, Chapman 6314 (FHO); without locality, 7,000’,<br />
1953, Chapman 118 (FHO).<br />
Gnidia goetzeana Gilg<br />
Erect shrublet to 1.5 m tall, normally single-stemmed from a taproot,<br />
branches with hairless red or brown bark; leaves subsessile, narrowly elliptic<br />
to oblanceolate-linear, glaucous-green, hairless; flowers in terminal or<br />
axillary heads of 30–80 flowers, whitish or yellow, flowering parts in 4s,<br />
petals filiform; in miombo woodland or wooded grassland; 800–1,800 m.<br />
Malawi, Zambia, D.R.C., Burundi, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Thymelaeaceae: 23 (1978).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
Grewia mildbraedii Burret<br />
Grewia sp. of Chapman & White (1970)<br />
Tree to 20 m tall, buttressed low-down, bark reddish, vertically-fissured;<br />
leaves alternate, oblong-elliptic, weakly 3-veined from the base; inflorescence<br />
axillary, much-branched, flowers small, greenish; fruit simple, unlobed,<br />
276 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
THYMELAEACEAE<br />
Source. Dowsett-Lemaire & White (1990); White et al. (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Nyamkhowa Forest, Dowsett-Lemaire 526 (FHO);<br />
Kasaramba, 1953, Chapman 125 (FHO).<br />
1999).<br />
TILIACEAE<br />
Gnidia involucrata Steud. ex A.Rich.<br />
Gnidia buchananii Gilg<br />
Shrublet to 1 m tall with numerous stems from a woody rootstock, stems<br />
glabrous, green to reddish, leaves subsessile, linear to elliptic, glaucous,<br />
sometimes reddish, hairless; flowers terminal or axillary, in heads of 15–25<br />
flowers, flowering parts in 4s, petals obovate or spathulate; pyrophyte in<br />
open or wooded grassland or woodland; 1,000–2,700 m. Zimbabwe to<br />
Angola, Nigeria, Sudan, and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, plateau above upper Mondwe Valley, 1972,<br />
Synge 395 (K, MAL, SRGH, PRE).<br />
Gnidia kraussiana Meisn. <br />
Lasiosiphon kraussianus (Meisn.) Burtt Davy; Lasiosiphon kraussianus<br />
(Meisn.) Burtt Davy var. villosus Burtt Davy<br />
Perennial herbaceous suffrutex to 0.6 m tall, usually less, branches hairless<br />
or densely hairy; leaves petiolate (1–2 mm), narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate,<br />
glaucous-green, hairy or silky, more or less mucronate; flowers in dense<br />
capitate terminal heads of 18–50 flowers, orange to yellow, flowering parts<br />
mostly in 5s, petals oblong to ovate; a pyrophyte in montane grassland, or<br />
in Brachystegia or Uapaca woodland; 1,300–2,700 m. South Africa to<br />
Kenya, Sudan, Nigeria, and Guinea.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Thymelaeaceae: 29 (1978).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, plateau above upper Mondwe Valley, 1972,<br />
Synge 393 (K, MAL, SRGH, UPS, BR).<br />
No country given. 1955, Lees 46 (UZL).<br />
Peddiea africana Harvey <br />
Peddiea fischeri Engl.<br />
Chichewa: mkakauku; Yao: nakasabola<br />
Small tree to 5 m tall; bark, when stripped, producing a strong ‘string’;<br />
leaves alternate, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, hairless, upper surface glossy,<br />
margins entire, rather wavy, apex pointed; flowers in loose clusters ca 10<br />
flowers, on stalks 5–20 mm long, yellowish green, green or reddish, tubular;<br />
fruit a shiny blackish fleshy berry 6–10 mm long; in understorey of<br />
evergreen forest and riverine forest; 1,000–2,200 m. South Africa northwards<br />
to Ethiopia; also in the W. African highlands from Guinea to<br />
Cameroon.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Thymelaeaceae: 12 (1978).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Synaptolepis alternifolia Oliv. <br />
Chichewa: chiwombwi; Yao: luchimbili<br />
Shrub or woody climber to 10 m high, bark reddish brown, lenticellate;<br />
leaves opposite (sometimes alternate), simple, ovate to elliptic, 15–45 x<br />
10–25 mm, glabrous; flowers in few-flowered terminal groups, white, pale<br />
yellow or cream, tube 12–18 mm long; in riverine vegetation, miombo<br />
woodland, and wooded grassland; 50–1,100 m. Zimbabwe, Mozambique,<br />
Malawi, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Thymelaeaceae: 6 (1978).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
pear-shaped; in mid-altitude rainforest; 1,650–2,000 m. Malawi, Tanzania,<br />
Uganda, Rwanda, D.R.C. Known only from Nyika and Viphya in Malawi.<br />
Source. Dowsett-Lemaire (1985: 359); White et al. (2001: 570)<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, foot of Mwenembwe (Chapman & White 1970,<br />
Dowsett-Lemaire 1985).
Dais cotinifolia<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Grewia stolzii<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Synaptolepis alternifolia<br />
Del. Maureen Church<br />
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
300 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Peddiea africana<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Gnidia kraussiana<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
5 mm<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
277
Celtis africana<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
278 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
Sparrmannia ricinocarpa<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
50 mm<br />
Triumfetta rhomboidea<br />
Del. Eleanor<br />
Catherine<br />
Boehmeria macrophylla<br />
Del. Victoria Friis
Grewia stolzii Ulbrich <br />
Liane or scrambling shrub with purplish arching branches; leaves elliptic to<br />
ovate-elliptic, markedly 3-veined from the base, hairless above, thinly hairy<br />
below; inflorescence leaf-opposed, sparsely branched or unbranched; flowers<br />
white; fruit round, 2- to 4-lobed; in montane forest or on rocky ground in<br />
miombo woodland; 800–1,600 m. Zimbabwe and Mozambique to E.<br />
D.R.C. and Kenya.<br />
Source. Dowsett-Lemaire (1985: 359); White et al. (2001: 570)<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Kasyaula forest, without collecting details (Dowsett-<br />
Lemaire 1985); 20 km from Thazima Gate, 2000, Burrows & Maroyi 6798 (PRE).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, near Chowo, Dowsett-Lemaire 248 (White et al.<br />
2001).<br />
Sparrmannia ricinocarpa (Eckl. & Zeyh.) Kuntze <br />
Slender shrub to 3 m tall; leaves 3- to 7-lobed, sparsely hairy; flowers in<br />
leaf-opposed umbels, white with clusters of yellow anthers; fruit a round<br />
capsule set with numerous stiff bristles; at high altitudes on forest margins,<br />
in montane scrub or along streams. South Africa northwards to Cameroon<br />
and Ethiopia. The stems yield a good fibre.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 77 (1963); Brummitt (1973).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, 4 km W.N.W. of Muzengapakweru, 1972,<br />
Synge 304 (K, MAL); Domwe Peak, 2000, Kasakula 255 (LMA, MAL, SRGH);<br />
Mpopoti Hill, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6785 (MAL).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, near source of Chire River, 1952, White 2562 (FHO).<br />
Triumfetta amuletum Sprague<br />
Chichewa: matitidza<br />
Prostrate perennial with hairy trailing stems to 1 m long, or ascending to<br />
1.2 m; leaves broadly ovate to circular, 70–100 mm long, base rounded or<br />
broadly tapering, 5-nerved from the base, hairy on both sides; flowers in<br />
axillary clusters, yellow; fruit ca 20 mm diameter, black, round, covered<br />
sharp bosses; in open grassland at margins of wetlands, or in open woodland<br />
on heavy soils, sometimes a weed. Apparently endemic to the Flora<br />
zambesiaca area.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 65 (1963).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill 1979).<br />
Triumfetta annua L.<br />
Chichewa: khatambuzi; Tumbuka: sungini<br />
Annual 100–600 mm tall; leaves 30–120 x 20–70 mm, ovate, narrower up<br />
the stem, base rounded, apex acute-acuminate, serrate, sparsely hairy on<br />
both sides; flowers in axillary clusters, petals yellow; fruit depressed-globose,<br />
hairy, hairs hooked; on forest margins, in shaded areas in bush, or a<br />
weed of cultivation. Widespread in tropical Africa, Madagascar, and Asia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 75 (1963).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Triumfetta pentandra A.Rich.<br />
Very similar to Triumfetta rhomboidea, but much less hairy, and the fruit is<br />
Celtis africana Burm.f. <br />
white stinkwood; Sukwa: chingono<br />
Deciduous tree to 25 m tall, bark smoothish, mottled grey; leaves alternate,<br />
ovate, coarsely serrate in the upper two-thirds, sometimes slightly<br />
scabrid, but always with varying degrees of hairiness; fruit a small yellowish<br />
berry; in moist woodlands, termite mounds, riverine forest, rocky hills,<br />
Celtis gomphophylla Baker<br />
Celtis durandii Engl.<br />
This species record, which first appeared in Chapman & White (1970), is<br />
ULMACEAE<br />
Excluded species<br />
ovoid; a weed or pioneer species in disturbed areas. Widespread in tropical<br />
Africa; also in India and Taiwan.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 74 (1963).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999); without locality, 1903, McClounie 161 (K).<br />
Triumfetta pilosa Roth var. glabrescens Sprague & Hutch.<br />
Small shrub to 1.3 m tall, stems square; leaves 80–140 x 15–35 mm, very<br />
sparsely hairy; flowers yellow; fruit hairy, but with hooks near the apex;<br />
probably on forest margins or in scrub. Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi,<br />
Mozambique, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 77 (1963).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 1896, Whyte s.n. (K, syn.); Mbuzinandi, 2000,<br />
Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6824 (MAL).<br />
Triumfetta rhomboidea Jacq. <br />
Chichewa: mpala; Tumbuka: msonongwe<br />
Annual or perennial to 2 m tall; leaves 25–150 x 20–100 mm, ovate to<br />
ovate-lanceolate, sometimes 3-lobed, base truncate to cordate, 3- to 7-lobed<br />
from the base, hairy; flowers in leafy axillary clusters, petals yellow, ca<br />
4 mm long; fruit round, hairy, some hairs hooked; a weed of cultivation,<br />
found throughout the tropics. Possibly introduced to Africa, described from<br />
the West Indies. A very variable species.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 73 (1963).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999); without locality, 1903, McClounie 126 (K).<br />
Triumfetta tomentosa Bojer<br />
Chichewa: chikande<br />
Small shrub to 3 m, branches with brown woolly hairs; leaves 50–120 x<br />
25–70 mm, ovate to lanceolate, sometimes slightly 3-lobed, base cordate,<br />
brown-grey woolly on both surfaces; flowers in leafy axillary clusters, petals<br />
yellow, 4–7 mm long; fruit fluffy; often as a pioneer in cultivated or<br />
disturbed areas. Throughout tropical Africa; also in S. America. Very similar<br />
to T. pilosa.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 72 (1963).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Triumfetta welwitschii Mast. ?var. welwitschii<br />
Chichewa: nyame<br />
Perennial herb with annual shoots from a woody rootstock, flowers developing<br />
before the leaves; leaves linear-lanceolate to obovate-oblong, 30–<br />
110 x 4–20 mm, hairy or not; flowers in terminal clusters, petals yellow, 5–<br />
9.5 mm long; fruit round, densely hairy; common in miombo woodland<br />
and frequently-burnt grassland, flowering soon after fire. South Africa to<br />
Angola and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(1): 77 (1963); UZL.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979); road to Chelinda, 7,500’, 1967, Richards 22513 (UZL).<br />
and in drier types of montane forest; up to 2,000 m. Widespread in Africa<br />
from South Africa to Nigeria, Sudan, and the Arabian Peninsula.<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Kasyaula Forest, without collecting details (Dowsett-<br />
Lemaire 1985).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Manyenjere, Kasoma, and Chowo Forests, without<br />
collecting details (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985).<br />
an error (Dowsett-Lemaire (1985: 327)).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality of collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
279<br />
ULMACEAE
URTICACEAE<br />
Boehmeria macrophylla Hornem. <br />
Boehmeria platyphylla Hamilt. ex D.Don<br />
Soft perennial shrub to 3 m tall, without stinging hairs, stems and leaves<br />
more or less hairy; leaves opposite, 150–300 x 70–150 mm, base cordate<br />
to tapering, petiole 25–150 mm long; flowers in axillary clusters; in deep<br />
shade of montane forest, usually along streams; 300–2,000 m. Widespread<br />
in tropical Africa and throughout the Old World tropics.<br />
Source. Dowsett-Lemaire (1985: 316); White et al. (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Chisanga Falls, 2000, Burrows & Burrows 6767<br />
(MAL, PRE, UZL).<br />
Elatostema monticola Hook.f. <br />
Elatostema orientale Engl.<br />
Annual or perennial herb with erect stems to 300 mm high, arising from<br />
creeping rhizomes, without stinging hairs, stems somewhat zigzagging; leaves<br />
alternate, confined to the upper part of the stem, asymmetric and slightly<br />
curving towards the tip of the stem, more or less hairless; flowers stalkless,<br />
axillary; in evergreen montane forest in moist shade of forest floor, sometimes<br />
in shade in moist rocky places; 1,200–2,200 m. Zimbabwe northwards<br />
through tropical Africa to Nigeria, Sudan, and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 9(6): 104 (1991).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Kasyaula and Zovochipolo Forests, without collecting<br />
details (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Chowo Forest, 2,000 m, 1991, Friis 6324 (C, K, MAL).<br />
Girardinia diversifolia (Link.) Friis <br />
Girardinia heterophylla Decne.; Girardinia condensata (Hochst. ex<br />
Steud.) Wedd.<br />
Large erect herb 1–3 m tall, completely covered in long stinging spines and<br />
hairs; leaves lobed, margins toothed, upper surface glabrous, with some<br />
stinging hairs, lower surface thinly hairy with stinging spines on the nerves;<br />
male flowers in a slender axillary spike, female flowers in a dense elongate<br />
cluster 100–150 mm long; in woodland or dry forest in rocky areas, or in<br />
riverine forest; 850–2,050 m. Sporadic, but widespread in Africa, also in<br />
Asia as far as China.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979); Nkhonjera Hill (White et al. 2001: 581).<br />
Laportea alatipes Hook.f. <br />
Fleurya alatipes (Hook.f.) N.E.Br.<br />
Annual or short-lived perennial herb or straggly shrub to 1.5 m high, set<br />
with stinging hairs; leaves alternate, triangular to rhomboid or ovate, leaves<br />
hairy or not; in understorey of montane forests and forests in ravines; 1,400–<br />
2,200 m. Widespread, in the mountains of Cameroon, E. D.R.C., Ethio-<br />
Valeriana capensis Thunb. <br />
Erect perennial unbranched herb to ca 1 m tall, with fleshy rhizome and<br />
fibrous roots; leaves mainly basal, but 3–5 reducing upwards, pinnate to<br />
pinnatifid, terminal leaflets to 130 mm long, larger than the lateral ones,<br />
shallowly dentate; flowers in terminal or axillary long-stalked clusters, white;<br />
in marshy areas and streamsides in montane grassland; 1,800–2,700 m.<br />
*Lantana trifolia L. <br />
Herbaceous shrub 0.9–3 m tall, often with purplish hairy stems; leaves aromatic,<br />
opposite or mostly in whorls of 3, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-elliptic,<br />
50–140 x 20–60 mm, apex acute, crenate-serrate, scabrid-hairy above,<br />
hairy below; flowers in hemispherical heads, pink or purple, sometimes<br />
white to pink; fruit a small, roundish drupe, 2.5–3.5 mm diameter, mauve<br />
to purple; in grassland, miombo woodland, bracken scrub, and on forest<br />
margins; 0–2,400 m. Widespread in Africa, but probably introduced from<br />
the Americas.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Verbenaceae: 46 (1992).<br />
280 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
URTICACEAE<br />
VALERIANACEAE<br />
VERBENACEAE<br />
pia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and S. to South Africa. A fiercely stinging<br />
plant.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 9(6): 93 (1991).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Kasyaula Forest, 1981, Salubeni & Tawakali<br />
3001 (SRGH).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Chowo Forest, 2,000 m, 1991, Friis 6322 (C, K,<br />
MAL); ibid. Pawek 11249 (White et al. 2001).<br />
Pilea rivularis Wedd.<br />
Pilea ceratomera Wedd.<br />
Perennial herb with creeping rhizome and erect, mostly unbranched stems<br />
to 1 m tall, without stinging hairs; leaves opposite, but leaf pairs often<br />
unequal in size; leaves glabrous; female flowers in tight clusters in leaf axils;<br />
in high-rainfall evergreen montane forests, often in moist rocky places, ravines,<br />
and along small streams; 1,800–2,100 m. Widely distributed in the<br />
moist uplands and mountains of tropical Africa. This is a very variable<br />
species, which has been subdivided by several authors.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 9(6): 98 (1991).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Zovochipolo Forest, 2000, Burrows & Burrows<br />
6898 (MAL, PRE, UZL).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Chowo Forest, 2,000 m, 1991, Friis 6323 (C, K,<br />
MAL).<br />
Pilea tetraphylla (Steud.) Blume <br />
Erect annual herb to 200 mm tall, without stinging hairs; leaves opposite,<br />
but apparently whorled at the stem apex, ovate, glabrous; female flowers<br />
restricted to the top of the plant; in humid places in montane forest or in<br />
moist sites among rocks; 1,650–2,800 m. Widespread in the mountain areas<br />
of tropical Africa.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 9(6): 96 (1991).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, 2,300 m, 1973, Pawek 6640 (K, MO, SRGH).<br />
Urera hypselodendron (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Wedd. <br />
Robust climber to 30 m high, stems with copious adventitious roots, stinging<br />
hairs absent; leaves ovate, upper surface dark green, more or less hairless,<br />
lower surface paler, hairy or at least along the nerves; a common climber<br />
in upland and montane forest clearings, along forest edges, in riverine or<br />
moist ravine forest; 1,450–2,150 m. From Zimbabwe northwards through<br />
eastern Africa to Sudan and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Dowsett-Lemaire (1985: 320); Flora zambesiaca 9(6): 82 (1991).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Kafwimba Forest, 1,800 m, 1975, Pawek 10263<br />
(K, MO, PRE, SRGH).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, without locality, 2,150 m, 1958, Robson 351 (K,<br />
SRGH); Chowo Forest, 6,100’, 1967, Richards 22697 (UZL).<br />
Along the eastern mountain chain from South Africa to Kenya.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 7(1): 75 (1983).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, valley 2.5 miles S.W. of (Zambian) Rest House,<br />
1958, Robson 250 (BM, K, LISC, PRE, SRGH); without locality or collecting<br />
details (Mill 1979).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, without locality, 1962, Fanshawe 7291 (K).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Lippia baumii Gürke var. nyassensis R.Fern.<br />
Perennial many-stemmed herb to 650 mm or more, all parts with dense<br />
silvery white hairs; leaves opposite, broadly ovate to rounded, usually longer<br />
than the internodes; flowers in spike-like heads in upper axils, yellow, rarely<br />
white, 3.5–4.5 mm long; in montane grassland and miombo woodland on<br />
rocky hillsides; 1,800–2,100 m. Malawi and Tanzania.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Verbenaceae: 32 (1992).
3 mm<br />
Elatostema monticola<br />
Del. Victoria Friis<br />
3 mm<br />
Urera hypselodendron<br />
Del. Victoria Friis<br />
100 mm<br />
Girardinia diversifolia<br />
Del. Victoria Friis<br />
Laportea alatipes<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Pilea tetraphylla<br />
Del. Victoria Friis<br />
20 mm<br />
50 mm<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
281
Lippia plicata<br />
Valeriana capensis<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Del. Maureen Church<br />
282 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
20 mm<br />
Rinorea convallarioides<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson<br />
Lantana trifolia<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Viola abyssinica<br />
Del. Christine Grey-Wilson
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979); Mwanda Mt., 2000, Winter 4159 (MAL).<br />
Lippia javanica (Burm.f.) Spreng.<br />
Lippia whytei Mold.<br />
Chichewa: chanzi, vumba; Yao: chisunganjeu, mchenjema<br />
Shrub to 4 m tall, softly woody; leaves strongly aromatic and slightly unpleasant,<br />
opposite or in whorls of 3, 10–100 x 3–45 mm, scabrid and<br />
rugulose (rough) above, serrulate; flowers in a small compact spike, white<br />
to yellowish green; in woodland, scrubby grassland, rocky hillsides; 450–<br />
2,350 m. Widespread in Africa, from South Africa to Angola and Ethiopia.<br />
Not in Asia, despite the species name, which was applied erroneously.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Verbenaceae: 30 (1992).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Lippia plicata Baker <br />
Lippia strobiliformis Mold.<br />
Woody herb or shrub 0.6–3 m, stems square, brown to reddish purple;<br />
leaves aromatic (minty), opposite, rarely in threes, ovate to lanceolate, 15–<br />
100 x 7–55 mm, harshly scabrid above, margins crenate-serrate; flowers in<br />
Rinorea convallarioides (Baker f.) Eyles <br />
Understorey shrub or small tree 1.5–7 m tall; leaves simple, alternate, oblong-elliptic,<br />
40–70 x 15–40 mm, sharply serrate or subentire, hairless except<br />
on main veins, petiole 2–4 mm long, channelled above, stipules 3–<br />
4 mm long; flowers axillary; fruit a 3-sided capsule to 13 mm long; in evergreen<br />
forest; only in submontane forest (below 2,000 m) on the eastern<br />
escarpment, but not recorded by Dowsett-Lemaire (1985). Zimbabwe,<br />
Mozambique, and Malawi.<br />
Source. Chapman & White (1970: 126).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, “eastern escarpment Forests”, no specimen located.<br />
Viscum combreticola Engl. <br />
Relatively large dioecious leafless parasitic shrubs, more or less pendulous<br />
with age, yellowish green, stems flattened and strongly ribbed, but round<br />
with age; berries stalkless, more or less round, 6–7 mm long, warty when<br />
young, almost smooth at maturity, orange; a parasite of various hosts,<br />
but commonly on Combretum and various legumes, including<br />
Brachystegia. Widespread from D.R.C. and Kenya to Angola and South<br />
Africa.<br />
Source. Mill (1979); Polhill & Wiens (1998: 303).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chisanga Falls, 1,800 m, 1982, Dowsett-<br />
Lemaire 307 (K); Chisanga Falls, 1,800 m, 1986, R.M. Polhill & D. Polhill<br />
5254 (K, MAL).<br />
Viscum cylindricum Polhill & Wiens.<br />
Leafless, dioecious, parasitic shrub with pendulous branches up to 1–2 m<br />
long, distal branches flattened, 2–4 mm broad; flowers sessile, single, style<br />
indistinct, stigma on elevated mound above tepal scars, berries sessile, oblong,<br />
7–3.5 mm; in forest and high-rainfall Brachystegia woodland on various<br />
hosts. Only known from Malawi.<br />
Source. Polhill & Wiens (1998: 303); Polhill (2001: 593, fig. 211G).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 7 km W. of Chelinda, 1972, Wiens 4614 (K, UT);<br />
Nyika National Park, 6.5 km W. of Livingstonia junction, Nya Mkowa,<br />
2,000 m, 1978, Pawek 13846 (BR, K, MAL, MO, WAG).<br />
Viscum goetzei Engl.<br />
Leafless dioecious parasite with flattened stems narrowing to the nodes;<br />
berries with a 1 mm long stalk, 3 mm long, smooth, orange; a parasite<br />
(epiparasite) of Loranthaceae, in evergreen forests to 2,350 m. Southern<br />
Highlands of Tanzania, Nyika Plateau, and Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.<br />
Source. Polhill & Wiens (1998: 302); Polhill (2001: 593, fig. 211J, K).<br />
VIOLACEAE<br />
VISCACEAE<br />
roundish terminal clusters, white/yellow to pink or lilac, scented; in grassland<br />
and various types of woodland, often in disturbed areas; 450–1,950 m.<br />
Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, D.R.C., and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973); F.T.E.A. Verbenaceae: 34 (1992).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, N.W. foot of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt &<br />
Synge 47 (K, MAL, SRGH, FHO, LISC); W. of Vitinthiza Hill, 2000, Salubeni<br />
& Mwanyambo 6763 & 6806 (MAL).<br />
Lippia woodii Mold.<br />
Lippia africana Mold. var. villosa Mold.; Lippia wilmsii Pearson var.<br />
villosa (Mold.) Mold.<br />
Herb or shrublet 150–600 mm tall, with several unbranched stems; leaves<br />
strongly aromatic, opposite, obovate-elliptic to rhomboid, 10–80 x 10–<br />
30 mm, shallowly crenulate, rugose/bullate, silvery hairy below, sparsely<br />
hairy above; flowers in axillary clusters, white, green or yellow, usually<br />
with an orange centre; in open woodland or grassland subjected to frequent<br />
burning; 1,110–2,280 m. Zimbabwe and Mozambique northwards<br />
to Uganda.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Verbenaceae: 33 (1992).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Viola abyssinica Steud. ex Oliv. <br />
Chichewa: katongolola<br />
Perennial herb, stems to 600 mm long, trailing or creeping, rooting at nodes,<br />
angular or winged; leaves broadly ovate to roundish, base cordate, margins<br />
crenate-dentate; flowers single, axillary, on pedicels 10–40 mm long,<br />
white to bluish or violet; in moist grassland, moist areas in forest or forest<br />
margins; 1,200–2,520 m. Widespread in the mountains of tropical Africa.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 1(1): 258 (1960).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality, 1946, Brass 17323 (BM, K,<br />
PRE, SRGH); Mpopoti, 2000, Mwanyambo 542 (MAL).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, near Rest House, 1958, Robson 395 (BM, K, SRGH).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, vicinity of Juniper Forest, 2,190 m, 1972,<br />
Wiens 4612 (K, MO, P).<br />
Viscum loranthicola Polhill & Wiens<br />
Small, leafless, densely branched parasitic shrub, distal internodes rounded<br />
to slightly flattened; flowers sessile, male flowers with anthers fused together;<br />
berries orange, sessile, round, smooth, 3 mm diameter; epiparasite<br />
on several genera of Loranthaceae. Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and northern<br />
Malawi.<br />
Source. Polhill & Wiens (1998: 297);<br />
Malawi. Rumphi-Chisenga Road, half a km S. of Nyika Road junction,<br />
1,500 m, 1972, Wiens 4607 (K, MAL, MO, UT); 16 km E. of Barrier, 1,650 m,<br />
1976, Phillips 1338 (K, MO, SRGH, WAG).<br />
Viscum shirense Sprague<br />
Viscum junodii Engl., nom. nud.<br />
Leafless dioecious parasite, pendulous with age, stems flattened; berries<br />
with a stalk of 1–1.5 mm, round to ellipsoid, 3–5 mm long, smooth, orange;<br />
a parasite of various hosts, commonly on Bridelia, in high rainfall<br />
woodland, riverine forest, and on margins of montane forest; up to 1,700 m.<br />
D.R.C., Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The<br />
citations given below might be misidentifications for allied species, but V.<br />
shirense is certainly recorded from near Chisenga on the Chambo R. and<br />
around Wenya. Furthermore, the closely similar V. congdonii Polhill &<br />
Wiens, known from Jembya Forest Reserve, is likely to occur. Differences<br />
are given in the sources cited above.<br />
Source. Polhill & Wiens (1998: 306); Polhill (2001: 595).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Kasyaula & Zovochipolo Forests (Dowsett-<br />
Lemaire 1985).<br />
Zambia. Nyika National Park, Manyenjere, Kasoma & Chowo Forests<br />
(Dowsett-Lemaire 1985).<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
283<br />
VISCACEAE
20 mm<br />
Cayratia gracilis<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
284 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
Viscum combreticola<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Cissus rubiginosa<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Ampelocissus africana<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm
Viscum tuberculatum A.Rich.<br />
Small, densely branched parasitic shrub; leaves obovate, leathery; flowers in<br />
sessile clusters, male and female on same plant; berries orange, sessile, ovoid, 5–<br />
6 mm long, densely tuberculate when young; in dry evergreen forest on many<br />
Ampelocissus africana (Lour.) Merr. <br />
Climber or liane with densely hairy branches when young, hairless with<br />
age, striate, with branched tendrils; leaves simple, ovate-cordate, entire, or<br />
deeply 3- to 5-lobed with toothed margins, hairy or not; flowers borne in<br />
dense clusters off the lower part of the tendrils; fruit roundish, ca 10 mm<br />
diameter; in woodland or forest margins. Zimbabwe northwards throughout<br />
tropical Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Kasewerera, 2001, without collecting details<br />
(Patel & Oveton 2002: 30).<br />
Cayratia gracilis (Guill. & Perr.) Suesseng. <br />
Cissus gracilis Guill. & Perr.<br />
Climbing or trailing herb 1–7 m long, all parts more or less hairless, tendrils<br />
present, leaf-opposed; leaves digitate with (3–)5(–9) leaflets, often<br />
pedate, leaflets narrowly ovate to ovate or elliptic, coarsely serrate, petiole<br />
40–60 mm long; inflorescence axillary, in tight clusters, peduncle 20–70 mm<br />
long, flowers whitish, yellow to pale green; fruit roundish, black, 6.5–10 mm<br />
diameter; in tall wooded grassland, forest margins, swampy areas, and riverine<br />
forest; 300–1,770 m. South Africa northwards to Senegal, Mali, and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(2): 491 (1966); F.T.E.A. Vitaceae: 138 (1993).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill 1979).<br />
Cissus rubiginosa (Welw. ex Baker) Planch. <br />
Woody or herbaceous climber, sometimes shrubby, 0.5–1.8 m tall, from a<br />
thick woody rootstock, all parts set with thick reddish-brown hairs, tendrils<br />
to 300 mm long, bifid, hairy; leaves simple, round to broadly elliptic<br />
or ovate, base deeply cordate, apex acute to apiculate, margins dentate,<br />
hairy throughout, but less so above, petiole to 80 mm long; inflorescence<br />
leaf-opposed, peduncle 26–65 mm long, fruit glabrous; in rocky places in<br />
Brachystegia woodland and riverine forest; 450–1,200 m. N. Mozambique,<br />
Malawi, and Zambia northwards to Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda,<br />
and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(2): 455 (1966); F.T.E.A. Vitaceae: 26 (1993).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).<br />
Cyphostemma princeae (Gilg & Brandt) Descoings ex Wild<br />
& R.B.Drumm.<br />
Cyphostemma kerkvoordei (Dewit) Descoings ex Wild & R.B.Drumm.<br />
Erect herb 0.8–1.2 m tall, arising from a woody rootstock, stems hairy<br />
with scattered short red or blackish gland-tipped hairs, tendrils absent;<br />
leaves digitate with 3–9 leaflets, petioles 0–70 mm long, leaflets sessile,<br />
linear-elliptic to obovate-oblanceolate, irregularly serrate, white-woolly<br />
below, sparsely hairy to hairless above; inflorescence terminal or axillary,<br />
flowers yellow to green, red-tipped; fruit red, turning black, 8–9 mm long,<br />
hairless; in Brachystegia woodland on rocky slopes; 1,500–2,250 m. Zimbabwe,<br />
Zambia, Malawi, D.R.C., and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(2): 471–472 (1966); F.T.E.A. Vitaceae: 79 (1993).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill 1979).<br />
Cyphostemma vandenbrandeanum (Dewit) Descoings <br />
Prostrate, but more usually a climbing vine, climbing to the forest canopy,<br />
stems hairy, bearing reddish tendrils; leaves 3- to 5-foliate, leaflets elliptic,<br />
Cissus grisea (Baker) Planch.<br />
C. grisea is a species of low altitudes (200–950 m) in riverine bush and<br />
rocky hills. Its maximum altitude is lower than the lowest point on Nyika<br />
and it is most likely that this record is a misidentification for the similar C.<br />
rubiginosa (see above).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).<br />
VITACEAE<br />
Excluded species<br />
hosts, broadly along the Rift Valleys from Ethiopia to South Africa and Angola.<br />
Source. Wiens & Polhill (1998: 290); Polhill (2001: 595, fig. 211L, M).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, vicinity of Juniper Forest, 2,190 m, 1972,<br />
Wiens 4611 (K, UT).<br />
ovate or obovate, apex acute to rounded, more or less hairless above, whitish<br />
to reddish velvety below, margins crenate-dentate; inflorescence compact,<br />
much-branched, peduncle 20–125 mm long, flowers brown or yellow,<br />
red-tipped; fruit red, densely pubescent; in woodland, montane scrub,<br />
secondary or montane forest, and on rocky slopes; 1,750–2,450 m. Malawi,<br />
Zambia, D.R.C., and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(2): 484 (1966); F.T.E.A. Vitaceae: 102 (1993);<br />
White et al. (2001: 599).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chelinda Bridge, 2000, Salubeni &<br />
Mwanyambo 6769 (MAL); road from Zovochipolo to Chisanga Falls, 2000,<br />
Burrows & Burrows 6770 (PRE).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, without locality, 1959, Richards 10412 (K, SRGH);<br />
Manyenjere, Kasoma & Chowo Forests, without collecting details (Dowsett-<br />
Lemaire 1985: 320).<br />
Cyphostemma wittei (Staner) Wild & R.B.Drumm.<br />
Cyphostemma hermannioides Wild & R.B.Drumm.<br />
Prostrate or scrambling herb 1–2 m long from a thick taproot (red inside),<br />
stems hairy with gland-tipped bristles, tendrils absent; leaves simple to 3foliate,<br />
side leaflets much smaller than the terminal leaflet, leaflets oblong,<br />
ovate to oblong-elliptic, sometimes 3-lobed, base tapering to cordate, more<br />
or less hairless above, sparsely hairy below; inflorescence bright red, peduncle<br />
25–110 mm long, flowers yellow to crimson; fruit red, turning blackish,<br />
hairless; in miombo woodland or wooded grassland; 1,050–1,950 m.<br />
Malawi, Zambia, D.R.C., and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 2(2): 464 (1966); F.T.E.A. Vitaceae: 61 (1993);<br />
Lebrun & Stork 3: 334 (1995).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).<br />
Rhoicissus tridentata (L. f.) Wild & R.B.Drumm. subsp.<br />
cuneifolia (Eckl. & Zeyh.) N.R.Urton <br />
Rhoicissus erythrodes (Fresen.) Planch.<br />
wild grape; Chichewa: mpeza; Yao: mpelesya; Tumbuka: mpesya<br />
Perennial shrub to 2 m or liane in forest, branchlets with reddish hairs,<br />
bearing simple tendrils; leaves 3-foliate, leaflets narrowly to broadly obovate,<br />
lateral leaflets often asymmetric, apex toothed, sometimes shallowly so,<br />
base tapering, more or less hairless above, densely velvety below; inflorescence<br />
leaf-opposed, compact, peduncle 2–30 mm long, flowers green, red<br />
to purplish; fruit roundish, black when ripe, 7–11 mm diameter, fleshy; in<br />
wooded grassland, on termite mounds, rocky hillsides in woodland, and in<br />
montane forest; 700–2,250 m. South Africa northwards to Nigeria, Ethiopia,<br />
and Saudi Arabia. A very variable species throughout its range, divided<br />
into two subspecies in South Africa and probably worthy of division<br />
into subspecific taxa within tropical Africa. The fruit is edible, juicy, but<br />
somewhat astringent.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973); White et al. (2001: 601).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, W. foot of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt, Munthali<br />
& Synge 72 (K, MAL, SRGH); Domwe, 2000, Mwanyambo 566 (MAL);<br />
between Zambian Rest House and Thazima, 2000, Burrows & Maroyi 6834<br />
(MAL, PRE).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Manyenjere, Kasoma, and Chowo Forests, without<br />
collecting details (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985: 320).<br />
Cissus rupestris<br />
An unauthored name listed in Patel & Overton (2002). No such name is<br />
recorded in Flora zambesiaca (1966), F.T.E.A. (1993), or in Lebrun & Stork<br />
(1995).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chipome Valley, 2001, without collecting<br />
details (Patel & Overton 2002: 32).<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
285<br />
VITACEAE
Cyphostemma<br />
vandenbrandeanum<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
600 mm<br />
286 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
Boophane disticha<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Cyrtanthus breviflorus<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Rhoicissus tridentata<br />
subsp. cuneifolia<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows
Boophane disticha (L.f.) Herb. <br />
Bulbous herb, with a large bulb to 250 mm diameter; leaves deciduous,<br />
arranged in a distinctive fan, to 600 mm long, linear-oblong, often twisted,<br />
grey-green; flowers in a large round inflorescence of 50 or more flowers,<br />
each flowering on a long (30–100 mm) stalk, flowers pink to purplish; fruit<br />
a 3-lobed capsule; in grassland or open woodland on well-drained soils;<br />
200–2,500 m. South Africa to Angola, D.R.C., Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Amaryllidaceae: 21 (1982).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Cyrtanthus breviflorus Harv. <br />
Anoiganthus breviflorus (Harv.) Baker; Cyrtanthus luteus Baker<br />
Small bulbous plant; leaves appearing with or after the flowers, green to<br />
greyish, linear, to 380 mm long (usually less), 3–9 mm broad; inflorescence<br />
with 1–5 flowers, flowers bright yellow, tubular, often narrowing at the<br />
mouth; fruit a capsule; in moist montane grasslands, in upland bogs or<br />
Chlorophytum blepharophyllum Schweinf. ex Baker<br />
Plants single or clumped, 100–400 mm tall, rhizome small, roots spongy<br />
with tubers at tips; leaves rosulate, discolorous, lanceolate, 100–300 x 15–<br />
40(70) mm, channelled, glabrous, margins hyaline and ciliate; inflorescence<br />
usually unbranched, 80–150 mm long, flowers whitish tinged greenish cream<br />
to brownish, petals reflexed, 6–8 x 1.5–2.5 mm; in open miombo woodland<br />
and grassland, on rocky outcrops, often in light sandy and stony soils;<br />
50–2,450 m. Widespread in Africa, from Mozambique and Zimbabwe to<br />
Angola, Senegal, and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 51 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Chlorophytum cameronii (Baker) Kativu var. pterocaulon<br />
(Baker) Nordal<br />
Anthericum pterocaulon Welw. ex Baker; Anthericum buchananii Baker;<br />
Chlorophytum pterocaulon (Welw. ex Baker) Kativu<br />
Plants tufted, 100 mm to 1 m tall, rhizome short, roots thin, wiry; leaves<br />
more or less distichous, broadly linear to lanceolate, 100–800 x 5–40 mm,<br />
glabrous, margins and midrib sometimes ciliate; inflorescence usually<br />
unbranched, to 250 mm long, rachis winged in lower part, peduncle hairless,<br />
flowers white to pinkish, aging to reddish, petals 10–15 x 4–7 mm;<br />
capsule obovoid, 6–8.5 mm long; in open woodland and grassland, in seasonally<br />
wet areas, and in swampy places; 0–3,300 m. Widespread in tropical<br />
Africa from Mozambique and Zimbabwe to Cameroon, Sudan, and<br />
Ethiopia. It is possible that more than one subspecies of C. cameronii occurs<br />
on Nyika.<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 72); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 32 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chelinda Bridge, 1975, Phillips 1061 (K,<br />
MO); without locality or collecting details, subspecies unknown (Mill 1979).<br />
Chlorophytum colubrinum (Welw. ex Baker) Engl. <br />
Anthericum colubrinum Welw. ex Baker; Chlorophytum campanulatum<br />
(Baker) Engl.<br />
Plants often in clumps, 0.2–1.5 m tall, rhizome thick, moniliform, roots<br />
spongy, without tubers; leaves more or less distichous, 120–750 x 5–<br />
25(40) mm, margins scabrid to shortly ciliate; inflorescence a narrowly<br />
spicate raceme, more or less unbranched, flowers white, petals 6–10 x 1.5–<br />
3 mm; capsule obovoid, 4–8 x 3.5–5 mm; in open woodland or wooded<br />
grassland, often on stony soils in rocky areas; 500–3,000 m. Mozambique<br />
and Zimbabwe to Angola, D.R.C., Rwanda, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 19 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
MONOCOTYLEDONS<br />
AMARYLLIDACEAE<br />
ANTHERICACEAE<br />
dambos, and along streams; 1,650–2,500 m. South Africa to Angola,<br />
D.R.C., Kenya, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973); F.T.E.A. Amaryllidaceae: 26 (1982).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, between Nganda and Muzengapakweru,<br />
1972, Synge 360 (K).<br />
Scadoxus multiflorus (Martyn) Raf. subsp. multiflorus <br />
Haemanthus multiflorus Martyn<br />
Bulbous herb 150 mm to 1 m tall, petioles forming a false stem; leaves<br />
lanceolate to ovate, appearing after flowering; inflorescence large, roundish,<br />
100–200 mm diameter, composed of 10–200 scarlet flowers with spreading<br />
lobes, fading to pink with age; fruit a red or pink berry 5–10 mm diameter;<br />
in a wide variety of habitats, from woodland, riverine vegetation,<br />
montane forest or grassland; to 2,700 m. Throughout tropical Africa, from<br />
South Africa to Yemen.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Amaryllidaceae: 4 (1982).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, locally occasional (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985: 319).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, locally occasional (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985: 319).<br />
1999); Chisanga Falls, 2000, Burrows & Burrows 6789 (MAL, PRE).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Chowo Rocks, 1968, Simon, Williamson & Ball<br />
1665 (B, SRGH).<br />
Chlorophytum floribundum Baker<br />
Plants 160–550 mm tall, rhizome short, vertical, roots narrow, bearing round<br />
tubers; leaves 4–13, rosulate, lanceolate to elliptic, 100–400 x 10–50 mm,<br />
sharply pointed, hairless; inflorescence of branched racemes, flowers greenish<br />
to whitish with a green keel, petals 5–8 x 1–2 mm; in open miombo woodland,<br />
often on termite mounds; 800–2,150 m. Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia,<br />
and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 60); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 47 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 1.5 km N. of M1 road, 1978, Pawek 13707 (K,<br />
MA).<br />
Chlorophytum leptoneurum (C.H.Wright) Poelln.<br />
Plants small, 50–80(120) mm high, growing in clumps, rhizome horizontal,<br />
stoloniferous, roots reduced to elongate tubers; leaves rosulate, more<br />
or less prostrate, linear to oblanceolate, 30–100 x 5–20 mm, hairless above,<br />
hairy below, margins ciliate; inflorescence dense, unbranched, flowers white;<br />
capsule roundish, 2.5–3 mm diameter; in open miombo woodland and grassland,<br />
on bare patches, often on sandy soils; 800–2,600 m. Zimbabwe,<br />
Malawi, Zambia, Angola, D.R.C., and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 65); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 22 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Nacheri, 1903, McClounie 89 (K, holo.; B, iso.).<br />
Chlorophytum nyassae (Rendle) Kativu<br />
Chlorophytum glabriflorum C.H.Wright<br />
Plants 180 mm–1.4 m tall, rhizome vertical, without tubers; leaves linearlanceolate,<br />
clasping below, 90–700 x 4–20 mm, glabrous, midrib and veins<br />
prominent, margin flat; inflorescence a loose panicle, flowers white to yellowish,<br />
petals 7–11 mm long; capsule obovoid, ca 8 mm long; in montane<br />
grassland and scrubland, often in gullies and around water courses, on<br />
stony ground; 800–2,800 m. Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 69); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 13 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Dembo Bridge, 1976, Phillips 906 (MO, K).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, close to border with Malawi, 1961, Richards 14389<br />
(K).<br />
Chlorophytum sphacelatum (Baker) Kativu<br />
Anthericum sphacelatum Baker<br />
Plants 0.35–1.5 m tall, rhizome horizontal, roots many, thin, bearing tubers;<br />
leaves ca 8, distichous, lanceolate, 180 mm to 1 m x 5–40 mm, with<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
287<br />
AMARYLLIDACEAE
Scadoxus multiflorus subsp. multiflorus<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
10 mm<br />
288 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
Raphia farinifera<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
70 mm<br />
Culcasia falcifolia<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Stylochiton cf. puberulus<br />
70 mm<br />
20 mm
numerous raised ribs and a narrow yellow scabrid or ciliate margin, ribs<br />
minutely hairy or not; inflorescence unbranched or with 2 small branches<br />
near the base, to 120 mm long, flowers white, petals 9–11 mm long; capsule<br />
6–8 x 5–6 mm; in open woodland and grassland. Centred on Zimbabwe,<br />
Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania; three subspecies occur in Malawi,<br />
but the subspecies on Nyika is not recorded by Patel (1999).<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 76); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 34 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).<br />
Chlorophytum stolzii (Krause) Kativu<br />
Plants large, 0.85–2.5 m tall, rhizome moniliform, roots with long tubers;<br />
leaves more or less distichous, sheathing basally, broadly linear, to 800 x<br />
20–35 mm, glabrous; inflorescence unbranched or almost so, to 700 mm<br />
long, flowers white with a green keel, petals 12–20 x 3–7 mm, pedicels<br />
articulated near middle; capsules obovoid, 10–12 mm; in open miombo<br />
woodland and tall grassland; often in wet places and along stream banks;<br />
800–2,000 m. Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, D.R.C., Burundi, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 78); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 15 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Mbuzinandi Road, 1977, Pawek 12930 (K,<br />
MAL, MO).<br />
Chlorophytum subpetiolatum (Baker) Kativu<br />
Anthericum subpetiolatum Baker; Anthericum dimorphum Poelln.;<br />
Anthericum stolzii Engl. & Krause<br />
Plants variable, clumped or single, 100–400 mm tall, rhizome erect or horizontal,<br />
moniliform, roots fusiform, peduncles papillate to hairy, flowers<br />
relatively large, star-shaped, white, sometimes tinged greenish, petals 8–15<br />
Culcasia falcifolia Engl. <br />
Culcasia scandens auctt., non P.Beauv.<br />
Ground-creeping or climbing vine adhering to tree trunks by means of adventitious<br />
roots; petiole 60–150 mm long, sheath more than half the petiole<br />
length, lamina asymmetrically elliptic to ovate, sometimes falcate, 82–<br />
260 x 35–105 mm; inflorescence 1–4 inserted at nodes, peduncle 45–<br />
140 mm long, spathe 25–50 mm long, greenish white to yellowish, partly<br />
enclosing the narrowly cylindric spadix; fruit a cluster of orange to dark<br />
red berries; in mid-altitude rainforest and swamp forest; 750–1,800 m in<br />
Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, through eastern Africa to Sudan<br />
and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Araceae: 18 (1985); White et al. (2001: 93).<br />
Raphia farinifera (Gaertn.) Hylander <br />
Raphia vinifera sensu Mill (1979), non P.Beauv.<br />
Massive palm 15–25 m tall, often with a number of stems, stem to 0.6 m<br />
diameter: leaves large, to 20 m long, erect and somewhat arching, pinnate,<br />
the leaflets linear-elliptic, margins with a few sharp spines; inflorescence<br />
borne in the axils of the leaves, massive, to 3 m long, drooping, ultimately<br />
bearing numerous ‘hand grenade-like’ fruit with reddish brown plastic-like<br />
scales; in seepage zones in woodland, in riverine forests, and swamp forest;<br />
Borassus sp.<br />
The only species in Africa, Borassus aethiopum is a very distinctive and<br />
conspicuous palm of low-altitudes and it is highly unlikely that it would<br />
Asparagus angolensis Baker<br />
A much-branched more or less scandent shrub, branches hairy; leaves<br />
(cladodes) in dense clusters, subulate, 12–19 mm long; flowers many, in a<br />
fascicle, stalks ca 4.5 mm long, articulated near base; flowers ca 3mm<br />
long; habitat unknown. Described from Angola. This name is widely used<br />
in Malawi, but its application is uncertain. Since there has been no modern<br />
ARACEAE<br />
ARECACEAE<br />
Excluded species<br />
ASPARAGACEAE<br />
x 2.5–4 mm; in open woodland, grasslands, shallow soils over sheetrock,<br />
and seasonally flooded areas; 50–2,450 m. Widespread in Africa, from<br />
Zimbabwe to Nigeria and Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 79); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 36 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Nganda Peak, 1974, Pawek 7927 (K, MAL, MO,<br />
SRGH, UC).<br />
Chlorophytum vestitum Baker<br />
Plants 300–700 mm tall, rhizome horizontal, narrow, roots fibrous, with<br />
few tubers; leaves more or less distichous, grass-like ciliate to hairy, 200–<br />
500 x 2–6 mm; inflorescence a lax panicle, flowers yellowish green, petals<br />
3–4 x 1 mm; capsule 3–4 x 4–5.5 mm; in open woodland and wooded<br />
grassland, often in shade; 950–1,600 m. Malawi, Zambia, D.R.C., and<br />
Tanzania.<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 81); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 15 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 1973, Phillips 838 (K).<br />
Chlorophytum zingiberastrum Nordal & A.D.Poulsen<br />
Chlorophytum orchidastrum sensu Kativu (1994), non Lindl. (1824)<br />
Plants 150–700 mm high with a short pseudostem, rhizome short, vertical,<br />
roots thin with elongate tubers; leaves lanceolate to oblanceolate, 100–400<br />
x 30–80 mm, glabrous, acute to attenuate; inflorescence a lax panicle 120–<br />
180 mm long, flowers greenish, petals 4–6 x 1–1.5 mm; in Brachystegia<br />
woodland, on sandy to gritty-clayey soils overlying rocks, and on termite<br />
mounds; 550–1,950 m. Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Kativu (1994: 700); F.T.E.A. Anthericaceae: 48 (1997).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Mwanembwe (Chapman & White 1970: 126).<br />
Stylochiton cf. puberulus N.E.Br. <br />
Seasonally dormant herb with distinctive, broadly triangular leaves with<br />
cordate-sagittate bases; in woodlands. The identity of this collection as S.<br />
puberulus is questionable; according to Mayo in F.T.E.A. Araceae (1985),<br />
this species does not occur above 500 m and it is therefore unlikely that it<br />
would be found on the Nyika. Although the genus undoubtedly occurs<br />
there, the species involved needs to be confirmed.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Araceae: 49 (1985).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
up to 2,500 m in E. Africa, to ca 1,800 m on Nyika. From Zimbabwe<br />
northwards to Zambia, D.R.C., Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. Most easily<br />
seen in the Thazima Gate area. The woody midribs of the palm fronds<br />
are used for roof rafters and for furniture. The fruits are the staple diet of<br />
the Palm-nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) and the distribution of the<br />
two organisms is often closely inter-linked.<br />
Source. F.T.E.A. Palmae: 38 (1986).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill 1979).<br />
occur as a constituent of the plateau flora. If it did occur within the boundaries<br />
of the Park, other collectors certainly would have sighted it.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill 1979).<br />
revision of the tropical African Asparagus, this taxon is included here with<br />
some reservation.<br />
Source. F.T.A. 7: 432 (1898).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999); Chelinda Bridge, 2000, Thera 3033 (MAL).<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
289<br />
ARACEAE
ASPHODELACEAE<br />
Asparagus asparagoides (L.) Druce <br />
Myrsiphyllum asparagoides (L.) Willd.; Asparagus medeoloides (Thunb.)<br />
Baker var. angustifolius (Mill.) Baker<br />
Slender twining herb or small perennial climber, sometimes deciduous, spineless;<br />
leaves (cladodes) ovate-acuminate, 25–40 x 8–20 mm, flattish, with<br />
3–several more or less parallel veins on each side of the midrib, hairless;<br />
flowers pendulous on slender stalks ca 10 mm long; fruit a round berry,<br />
10 mm diameter; in montane forest or scrub, forest margins, and along<br />
stream banks. Widespread in South Africa, northwards to Tanzania; an<br />
invader plant in Australia.<br />
Source. Obermeyer & Immelman (1992: 73).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Lake Kaulime, 2000, Phiri 3722 (UZL); ibid.,<br />
2000, Burrows & Burrows 6870 (PRE); without locality or collecting details<br />
(Mill 1979).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Chowo Forest, White 2781 (White et al. 2001: 93).<br />
Asparagus laricinus Burch. <br />
Erect densely-branched shrub 1–2 m tall, stems and branches pale whitish<br />
green, usually finely ribbed, spines short, hard, on stems and branches;<br />
leaves (cladodes) up to 60 in a cluster, stiff, filiform, up to 35 mm long;<br />
flowers 1–8 on outside of leaf clusters, white; fruit a red berry, 5 mm diameter;<br />
in grassland, open woodland, and scrub. South Africa to tropical Africa.<br />
Source. Obermeyer & Immelman (1992: 33).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, 8 km E. of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt & Synge<br />
34 (K); Lake Kaulime, 2000, Burrows & Burrows 6869 (PRE).<br />
No country given. 1967, Richards 22640 (UZL).<br />
Asparagus plumosus Baker<br />
Protasparagus plumosus (Baker) Oberm.<br />
Scandent stoloniferous evergreen perennial with branches, branchlets and<br />
cladodes (leaves); leaves ca 12 in compressed clusters, terete, glabrous, glossy<br />
dark green, very fine; flowers apical, white, stalks 2–3 mm long, articulated<br />
near base; fruit a red berry, 4 mm diameter; in understorey of forests.<br />
From South Africa (Eastern Cape) northwards to E. Africa. Often cultivated<br />
for its delicate foliage. See also notes under A. setaceus.<br />
Source. Obermeyer & Immelman (1992: 59).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, occasional in all forests (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985:<br />
320); without locality, 1896, Whyte s.n. (K).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, occasional in all forests (Dowsett-Lemaire 1985: 320).<br />
Asparagus racemosus Willd.<br />
Protasparagus racemosus (Willd.) Oberm.<br />
Asparagus africanus Lam.<br />
This species is not recorded from tropical Africa (Obermeyer & Immelman<br />
290 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
Excluded species<br />
ASPHODELACEAE<br />
The genus Aloe is sometimes treated within a separate family, the Aloaceae (Carter 2001).<br />
Aloe christianii Reynolds<br />
Succulent, usually solitary, rarely suckering, stemless or with a stem to 1 m<br />
tall; leaves erect-spreading, to 0.6 m long, basal width ca 120 mm, light<br />
bluish green, tinged pinkish in drought, unspotted, faintly lined, margins<br />
with strong brown-tipped teeth; inflorescence erect, 1–2 m tall, with 6–10<br />
erect branches, flowers coral-pink, stamens exserted ca 4 mm; in partial<br />
shade in Brachystegia–Isoberlinia woodland, or sometimes in medium to<br />
tall grasslands, never on rocks; 300–1,675 m. Zimbabwe, Mozambique,<br />
Malawi, Zambia, D.R.C., and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Reynolds (1966); Carter (2001).<br />
Malawi. ?Nyika, 62 miles (99 km) N. of Rumphi, 1960, Leach & Brunton<br />
10354 (K, LISC, PRE, SRGH).<br />
Aloe duckeri Christian<br />
Solitary succulent or suckering to form small clusters of plants, stemless or<br />
with a short stem; leaves spreading, in a dense rosette, 0.5–0.8 m long, 80–<br />
Tall climber or a tangled shrub with shiny yellowish stems and soft feathery<br />
branches, usually leafless when in flower; leaves (cladodes) 4–8 per<br />
cluster, unequally long, filiform, 10–16 mm long; flowers in simple racemes<br />
20–30 mm long, white with a reddish streak; fruit a red berry, 7 mm diameter;<br />
in thickets or scrub in frost-free, high-rainfall savannas. Eastern Cape<br />
to Botswana, Namibia, and widespread in tropical Africa and eastwards to<br />
India.<br />
Source. Obermeyer & Immelman (1992: 45).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, S. slopes of Kawozya, 1972, Brummitt &<br />
Synge 185 (K, MAL, SRGH).<br />
Asparagus setaceus (Kunth) Jessop<br />
Protasparagus setaceus (Kunth) Oberm.; Asparagus plumosus auctt. non<br />
Baker<br />
Evergreen perennial, erect or often scandent, to 2 m tall, hairless throughout,<br />
stems with a few short spines below, spineless above, branches more<br />
or less twining; leaves (cladodes) numerous, spreading, filiform, to 15 mm<br />
long, soft, shiny; flowers solitary, white; fruit a black berry, 5 mm diameter;<br />
in undergrowth of scrub or forest, less common than A. plumosus.<br />
South Africa to tropical Africa. This species is often quoted from Malawi,<br />
but its species concept is frequently confused. White et al. (2001) states<br />
that ‘A. setaceus’ is ‘very widespread’ in Malawi and draws attention to its<br />
fine cladodes ‘all in the same plane’, which is a defining characteristic of<br />
true A. plumosus (Obermeyer & Immelman 1992: 59). Therefore it seems<br />
possible that only A. plumosus occurs on the Nyika Plateau.<br />
Source. Obermeyer & Immelman (1992: 58); White et al. (2001: 95).<br />
No country given. 1967, Richards 22754 (UZL).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979); Chosi Viewpoint, 2000, Chapama 149 (MAL).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, Manyenjere Forest, 2000, Phiri 4033 (UZL); Chowo<br />
Forest, 2000, Phiri 4013 (UZL).<br />
Asparagus virgatus Baker<br />
Protasparagus virgatus (Baker) Oberm.<br />
Erect stiff shrubs 0.75–1 m tall, with one to a few, green, angled stems and<br />
thin, stiff branches; leaves (cladodes) 1–7, filiform, 4–20 mm long, unequal;<br />
flowers solitary, pendulous along the branches, stalks ca 7 mm long, articulated<br />
in lower half; fruit a red berry, 5 mm diameter; in dry forest,<br />
riverine forest, scrub or woodland. Eastern Cape to Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe,<br />
Malawi, and E. Africa.<br />
Source. Obermeyer & Immelman (1992: 31).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, 8 km E. of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt, Munthali<br />
& Synge 129 (K, MAL).<br />
1992) and it would appear that this is a misidentification.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).<br />
120 mm at the base, dull green, sparsely spotted or without spots, often<br />
faintly streaked on both surfaces, margins with strong red-brown teeth;<br />
inflorescence erect, 1–2 m tall, 3- to 9-branched, branches curving upwards,<br />
flowers orange-red to coral-pink, stamens slightly exserted; in montane<br />
grassland and high-rainfall miombo; 1,000–2,350 m. Malawi, Zambia, and<br />
S.W. Tanzania. Locally abundant on the Nyika.<br />
Source. Reynolds (1966); Carter (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, near Chelinda Rest House, 1958, Reynolds 8642<br />
(K, PRE, SRGH); western foot of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt & Synge WC3<br />
(EA, K, MAL, PRE, SRGH).<br />
Aloe mzimbana I.Verd. & Christian <br />
Stemless succulent, suckering to form dense groups of plants; leaves in a<br />
dense rosette, spreading-erect, 200–350 mm long, 70–80 mm wide at the<br />
base, greyish green, with few to many large, elongated white spots on both<br />
surfaces, margins with large sharp brown-tipped teeth; inflorescence erect
20 mm<br />
Asparagus asparagoides<br />
Asparagus laricinus<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Bulbine abyssinica<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Kniphofia grantii<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Aloe mzimbana<br />
Del. Pat Halliday<br />
800 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
291
ASPHODELACEAE<br />
to 600 mm tall, with 1–6 spreading branches; flowers bright coral-red, stamens<br />
slightly exserted; in montane grassland and rocky outcrops; 1,280–<br />
2,300 m. Malawi, Zambia, D.R.C., and Tanzania. An exceedingly variable<br />
species.<br />
Source. Reynolds (1966); Carter (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, large numbers on rocks 3 km S.W. of Chelinda Rest<br />
House, 1958, Reynolds 8643 (K, PRE, SRGH).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, 1968, Williamson 966 (SRGH).<br />
Aloe nuttii Baker <br />
Aloe mketiensis Christian<br />
Erect succulent herb, suckering to produce 2–12 stems; leaves erect, grasslike,<br />
400–500 mm long, linear, tapering to the apex, channelled towards<br />
the apex, white-spotted near the base, margin with minute white teeth in<br />
lower half; flowers in an erect inflorescence 0.6–0.8 m long, coral-pink to<br />
orange-red, green-tipped, stamens scarcely exserted; in montane grassland<br />
and high-rainfall miombo woodland; 1,450–2,400 m. Malawi, Zambia,<br />
Angola, D.R.C., and Tanzania. Nearest allied to the Malawian species A.<br />
buchananii Baker.<br />
Source. Reynolds (1966); Carter (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Nchena-Chena Spur, 1946, Brass 17147 (K); above<br />
Nchena-Chena, 1956, Reynolds 8187 (K, PRE); Domwe Viewpoint, 2000,<br />
Thera 3064 (MAL).<br />
Bulbine abyssinica Hochst. ex A.Rich. <br />
Bulbine asphodeloides auctt., non (L.) Willd.<br />
Tufted, hairless perennial herb 100–660 mm tall; leaves 5–many, erect to<br />
arching, fleshy, grass-like, round to very narrowly linear, 2–6 mm wide;<br />
inflorescence 100–500 mm tall, with numerous yellow flowers clustered<br />
towards the top; in montane grassland, near dambos, in miombo woodland,<br />
in seepage areas, and on shallow soils over sheetrock; 750–2,400 m.<br />
Eastern Africa, from South Africa to Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 12(3): 42 (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, 25 km S.E. of Chelinda Camp on Kasaramba<br />
Road, 1977, Grosvenor & Renz 1190 (K, SRGH); Mwanda Ridge, 2000,<br />
Winter 4183 (MAL).<br />
?Zambia. Nyika Plateau, 1955, Lees 64 (UZL).<br />
Kniphofia grantii Baker <br />
Kniphofia zombensis Baker<br />
Chichewa: kaluatete<br />
Plants not clump-forming, with 1–3 shoots; leaves variable, linear to lanceolate,<br />
60–750 x 20–38 mm, margins and keel smooth to minutely serrate;<br />
inflorescence stalks 0.3–1.2 m long, head a dense ovoid raceme 50–<br />
150 mm long, flowers yellow to yellowish green, 15–39 mm long, stamens<br />
shortly exserted; in montane grassland, also in seasonally flooded areas,<br />
flowering September–May with a peak in October–January; 780–2,700 m.<br />
Zambia, Malawi, D.R.C., Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Marais (1973: 476); Flora zambesiaca 12(3): 29 (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, toward Chelinda Bridge, 1969, Pawek 3268<br />
(K); edge of Dam #2, 1975, Phillips 1269 (K, MO).<br />
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, without locality, 1955, Lees 123 (herbarium unknown).<br />
Kniphofia linearifolia Baker <br />
Kniphofia longistyla Baker; Kniphofia rhodesiana Rendle<br />
Chichewa: kaluatete<br />
Robust, clump-forming plants; leaves 0.5–1.6 m x 8–20 mm, very strongly<br />
keeled, margins smooth or minutely serrulate; inflorescence with a peduncle<br />
to 1.5 m long, head a slender raceme 50–120 mm long, ovoid to lanceo-<br />
Aloe swynnertonii Rendle<br />
Neither this species nor any of the closely allied taxa are recorded from the<br />
northern half of Malawi or Tanzania (Carter 2001) and, since we have no<br />
confirmation of the identity of this record, it is excluded.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
292 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
Excluded species<br />
late, the apex often tapering narrowly, flowers 25–40 mm long, yelloworange<br />
to red; in montane grassland or swampy areas; 1,550–2,700 m.<br />
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi, reaching its northern<br />
limit on the Nyika. It is doubtful if the Nyika material is the same as the<br />
South Africa species.<br />
Source. Marais (1973: 475); Flora zambesiaca 12(3): 31 (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Game Park, Mapopo area, Richards 22615 (herbarium<br />
not recorded); Chelinda Stream at Chelinda Camp, 1958, Robson<br />
& Angus 382 (K, LISC, PRE); without locality, 2000, Willis 35 (PRE); near<br />
Chelinda Camp, 2000, Kasakula 237 (MAL).<br />
No country given. 1958, Robson 427 (UZL).<br />
Kniphofia princeae (Berger) Marais <br />
Chichewa: kaluatete<br />
Plants solitary, 1.3–3 m tall; leaves 1.8–2 m x 23–37 mm, strongly keeled,<br />
margins serrulate; inflorescence with a peduncle to 2.5 m long, heads in<br />
dense or lax racemes 350–600 mm long, flowers 25–38 mm long, orangered,<br />
vermilion or orange with yellow tips, anthers mostly included; in grassland<br />
or montane scrub along streams and on forest margins; 1,830–2,286 m.<br />
E. D.R.C., S. Tanzania, and N. Malawi.<br />
Source. Marais (1973: 470); Flora zambesiaca 12(3): 31 (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, Sangule Kopje, Brummitt 10749 (K); Businande<br />
Road, 1976, Phillips 1626 (M, SRGH).<br />
Kniphofia reynoldsii Codd<br />
Robust perennial with inflorescences 1–2.5 m tall; leaves 0.8–2 m long,<br />
40–50 mm wide at base, linear, keeled, margins entire or minutely serrate;<br />
flowers in a slender raceme 0.5–0.7 m long, spiciform, white, cream, greenish,<br />
tipped with brown, 7.5–11 mm long; in rank grassland or scrub in<br />
montane grassland or miombo woodland; 1,250–2,000 m. Zambia, Malawi,<br />
and Tanzania. The very tall, slender inflorescences of this species are<br />
unmistakable.<br />
Source. Marais (1974: 480); Flora zambesiaca 12(3): 27 (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chisanga Falls slope, 2000, Mwanyambo<br />
494 (MAL); edge of Kafwimba Forest, 1973, Pawek 6579 (K, MO, UC).<br />
Trachyandra malosana (Baker) Oberm.<br />
Tufted grass-like herb to 450 mm tall; leaves many, to 300 x 3 mm, linear,<br />
triangular in section, with scattered bristles, and glands arranged in 2–4<br />
rows along the margins and midrib; inflorescences 1–5, branched, appearing<br />
before the leaves, peduncle and branches pubescent-glandular, flowers<br />
with spreading lobes, white or cream with a reddish keel; capsule 2.5–<br />
4 mm long, 3-lobed, densely tuberculate; a pyrophyte in montane grassland;<br />
1,900–2,500 m. Known only from Malawi and E. Zimbabwe.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973: 67); Flora zambesiaca 12(3): 38 (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chelinda Camp near Chelinda Stream, 1958,<br />
Robson & Angus 391 (K); Kasaramba View Road, 1969, Pawek 3312 (K); S.<br />
slopes of Nganda, 1972, Synge 464 (K, MAL, SRGH, PRE).<br />
Trachyandra saltii (Baker) Oberm. <br />
Anthericum saltii Baker<br />
Perennial grass-like herb 150–750 mm tall; leaves to 600 mm long, 1.5–<br />
6 mm wide, flat or 3-angular in section, hairless or with long straight hairs;<br />
inflorescences 1–6, unbranched, peduncle hairless or not, flowers white;<br />
capsules 2–5 mm long, roundish to 3-lobed, not tuberculate; in rocky<br />
montane grassland, forest margins, in open miombo woodland, and on<br />
rocky outcrops; 5–2,350 m. South Africa through eastern Africa to Ethiopia.<br />
Source. Flora zambesiaca 12(3): 34 (2001).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Kniphofia splendida E.A.Bruce<br />
This species is recorded only from the S. of Malawi (Mt. Mulanje) and<br />
southwards to South Africa and, since we have no confirmation of the<br />
identity of this record, it is excluded.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).
20 mm<br />
Gloriosa superba<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Trachyandra saltii<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
5 mm<br />
10 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Littonia lindeni<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Chlorophytum colubrinum<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Wurmbea tenuis<br />
subsp. goetzei<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
5 mm<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
20 mm<br />
293
COLCHICACEAE<br />
Gloriosa superba L. <br />
Gloriosa simplex L.<br />
flame lily<br />
Scrambling herb to 1.5 m, sometimes self-supporting, arising from a fleshy<br />
whitish tuber; leaves ovate to lanceolate, base clasping the stem, apex often<br />
elongating into a tendril; flowers unmistakable, the six petals recurved backwards<br />
to form a goblet shape, deep red and yellow, sometimes orange or<br />
yellow; fruit a fleshy capsule splitting to reveal red seeds; in miombo woodland,<br />
riverine forest or in high-rainfall scrub or forest margins; flowering<br />
mid-summer. Widespread in southern and eastern Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Littonia lindeni Baker <br />
Erect herb or scrambling, arising from a tuber; leaves lanceolate, hairless;<br />
flowers pendulous on rather long stalks, bell-shaped with 6 pointed lobes,<br />
Aneilema hirtum A.Rich. <br />
Aneilema ringoeti De Wild.; Aneilema whytei C.B.Clarke<br />
Annual; leaf-blade sessile; inflorescence dense; flowers 8–10 mm wide, stamen<br />
filaments beaded with maroon hairs. Malawi and Zambia to Tanzania,<br />
Ethiopia, and D.R.C.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Aneilema welwitschii C.B.Clarke<br />
Aneilema densum Th.Fr.; Aneilema erectum De Wild.; Aneilema florentii<br />
De Wild.<br />
Roots tuberous; inflorescence dense; flowers yellow to orange, 9–14 mm<br />
wide; in savanna. Angola to Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Commelina africana L. var. africana<br />
Perennial herb, spreading, rooting at nodes; leaves flat, glabrous; spathes<br />
solitary; spathe margins free; flower yellow, opens only in mornings. Widespread<br />
in Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chosi Viewpoint, 2000, Smook 10735 (PRE,<br />
MAL).<br />
Commelina africana L. var. lancispatha C.B.Clarke<br />
Perennial herb, spreading, rooting at nodes; leaves folded, glabrous; spathes<br />
solitary; spathe margins free, apex tapered; flowers yellow, opens only in<br />
mornings. South Africa to Central Africa, uncommon in W. Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, footpath to Chisanga Falls, 2000, Smook<br />
10766 (PRE).<br />
Commelina africana L. var. krebsiana (Kunth) C.B.Clarke<br />
Perennial herb, spreading, rooting at nodes; leaves folded, hairy; spathes<br />
solitary; spathe margins free, apex tapered; flowers yellow, opening only in<br />
mornings. South Africa to Central Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Fingira Rock, 2000, Willis 225 (PRE).<br />
Commelina aspera Benth.<br />
Annual herb, erect; leaves narrow; spathes in clusters; spathe small, sharply<br />
pointed, reflexed, margins fused; flower yellow to white, open morning<br />
only; grassland and savanna, sometimes in disturbed areas. Angola, Namibia,<br />
Zambia, and Zimbabwe; E. Africa to Cameroon.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, footpath to Chisanga Falls, 2000, Smook<br />
10767 (PRE).<br />
Commelina benghalensis L.<br />
Annual, spreading herb; leaves flat; leaf-sheath with long red or rarely colourless<br />
setae at mouth; spathes clustered, spathe margins fused; flower small,<br />
294 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
COLCHICACEAE<br />
COMMELINACEAE<br />
deep orange; fruit a fleshy capsule; in miombo woodland. Zambia, Malawi,<br />
D.R.C., and Tanzania.<br />
Source. Bolnick (1995: 63).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Wurmbea tenuis (Hook.f.) Baker subsp. goetzei (Engl.)<br />
B.Nord. <br />
Small erect plant 30–200 mm tall; basal leaf erect, narrowly linear-filiform,<br />
30–200 mm long, cauline leaves not extending beyond the flowers; flowers<br />
(perianth) 7–10 mm long, with spreading, star-like segments (petals), white<br />
to greenish or cream, tube 0.5–1.5 mm long; in wet short montane grassland<br />
on peaty or sandy soils; 1,200–2,300 m. Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia,<br />
and D.R.C.<br />
Source. Nordenstam (1978: 225).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Lake Kaulime, 1959, Robinson 3043 (K, M, PRE).<br />
blue, rarely white; disturbed areas. Widespread and troublesome weed;<br />
southern Africa, tropical Africa, and Asia; naturalised in N. and S. America.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or details (Patel 1999).<br />
Commelina bracteosa Hassk.<br />
Commelina aspera auctt.<br />
Perennial herb; erect to straggling or prostrate; spathes single to laxly clustered,<br />
on peduncles; spathe margins fused; flowers blue, rarely white. Malawi<br />
and Mozambique, up to E. Africa, Sudan, and Cameroon.<br />
No country given. Nyika Plateau, 1967, Richards 22692 (UZL).<br />
Commelina cecilae C.B.Clarke<br />
Plant hairy; leaves broadly triangular, densely fringed with hairs; spathes<br />
with margins free, flowers numerous, large, blue. Zimbabwe and Malawi.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Makhanga, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo<br />
6755 (MAL).<br />
Commelina sp. aff. C. grossa C.B.Clarke<br />
(description of C. grossa) Plant nearly glabrous; spathe margins free, spathes<br />
purple-green; flowers blue, cymes paired in spathe, upper cyme many-flowered.<br />
Source. Determined by R.B. Faden (US)<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, path to Chisanga Falls from road, 2000, Willis<br />
34 (PRE).<br />
Commelina neurophylla C.B.Clarke <br />
Plant nearly glabrous; leaves often petiolate; spathe solitary, margins fused,<br />
longitudinal veins obscure; flowers blue. Malawi and Tanzania.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park; Chelinda Dam, 2000, Chapama 197 (FRIM);<br />
path to Chisanga Falls, 2000, Smook 10766B (PRE); Fingira Rock, 2000,<br />
Willis 229 (PRE); Dembo Bridge, 2000, Willis 24 (PRE).<br />
Cyanotis barbata D.Don<br />
Perennial, variable, hairy herb, easily detached corm, roots fibrous; no rosette<br />
of leaves; flower blue, rarely mauve or white; grasslands of high altitudes.<br />
Malawi and Zambia to E. Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan, and W. Africa;<br />
also along the Himalayas from India to China.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park; road at start of footpath to Chisanga Falls,<br />
2000, Smook 10771 (PRE, MAL); Dembo Bridge, 2000, Willis 22 (PRE).<br />
Cyanotis lanata Benth.<br />
Cyanotis lanata var. rubescens (A.Chev.) Schnell; Cyanotis longifolia<br />
sensu Berhaut, Fl. Senegal (1967: 351)<br />
Annual or short-lived perennial herb, cotton-hairy, rarely glabrous, roots<br />
fibrous; flowers purple, pink or white with pink; in seasonally wet places<br />
on or near rocks, sometime in cultivated ground. S. and tropical Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).
Aneilema hirtum<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
20 mm<br />
Cyanotis longifolia<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Commelina neurophylla<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Murdannia simplex<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
295
Ascolepis capensis<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
296 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
20 mm<br />
Carex spicato-paniculata<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
500 mm<br />
Bulbostylis densa<br />
subsp. afromontana<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Coleochloa setifera<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
10 mm
Cyanotis longifolia Benth. <br />
Perennial, variable herb, tuberously thickened roots; leaf rosette usually<br />
present; usually hairy; flowers blue, rarely pink or white; in savanna, miombo<br />
woodland or grassland. Tropical Africa and northern Namibia.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park; path to Chisanga Falls, 2000, Smook 10749<br />
(PRE); Zungwara Road, 2000, Burrows & Burrows 6879 (MAL, PRE, UZL).<br />
Cyanotis speciosa (L.f.) Hassk.<br />
Perennial herb, rhizome vertical to U-shaped, roots cylindrical; basal cluster<br />
of leaves present; flowers pale to deep blue or mauve; in grassland.<br />
Ascolepis capensis (Kunth) Ridl. <br />
Slender perennial; sheaths becoming black and fibrous at base; inflorescence<br />
a very rounded somewhat compressed white head; in wet or seasonally<br />
wet grassland, in swamp-edges, and on tussocks in swamps; 1,000–<br />
1,800 m. Throughout tropical and southern Africa.<br />
No country given. Nyika Plateau, 1967, Richards 22623 (UZL).<br />
Ascolepis protea Welw. var. bellidiflora Welw.<br />
Tufted perennial; leaves less than half the length of culm; inflorescence<br />
white rarely pale yellow, hemispherical to subglobose; wet grassland and<br />
other damp places. Scattered in tropical Africa from Nigeria to Ethiopia<br />
and S. to Zimbabwe and Angola. The A. protea collected by the Overton<br />
Expedition (Patel 1999) is probably this variety.<br />
Malawi. Chelinda Bridge, 2000, Burrows & Burrows 6903 (MAL, PRE);<br />
2.5 km from Thazima Gate, 2000, Burrows & Maroyi 6815 (MAL, PRE).<br />
Bulbostylis contexta (Nees) Bodard<br />
Abildgaardia contexta (Nees) Lye; Bulbostylis collina (Kunth)<br />
C.B.Clarke; Bulbostylis zeyheri (Boeck.) C.B.Clarke<br />
Robust, tussocky perennial with a short woody rhizome; leaves tufted at<br />
base; inflorescence open or compact, especially in southern Africa; spikelet<br />
5–8 mm long, glumes acute. Widespread in southern Africa as far N. as<br />
Angola and Kenya.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
Bulbostylis densa (Wall.) Hand.-Mazz. subsp. afromontana<br />
(Lye) R.W.Haines <br />
Abildgaardia densa (Wall.) Lye subsp. afromontana Lye<br />
Tufted annual; glabrous or with short spine-like hairs scattered along culms<br />
and leaves; culms deeply grooved; inflorescence usually an umbel with 3–8<br />
spikelets; spikelet 2–5 mm long, glumes dark brown with conspicuous pale<br />
green or grey midrib; shallow soils in upland areas. Common in South<br />
Africa, less frequent in tropical Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, between Dam #2 and Chelinda Hill, 2000,<br />
Smook 10832 (PRE, MAL, UZL, SRGH, LMA); Sangula Kopje area, 2000,<br />
Smook 10854 (PRE, MAL, UZL, SRGH, LMA); 2000, Smook 10872 (PRE,<br />
MAL, UZL, SRGH, LMA); Chosi Hill, 2000, Burrows & Burrows 6738 (MAL,<br />
PRE); Thazima Gate, 2000, Burrows & Maroyi 6825 (MAL, PRE).<br />
Bulbostylis filamentosa (Vahl) C.B.Clarke<br />
Abildgaardia filamentosa (Vahl) Lye; Fimbristylis filamentosa (Vahl)<br />
K.Schum.; Bulbostylis metralis Cherm.<br />
Perennial with crowded culms from a short rhizome; leaves strongly scabrid;<br />
inflorescence a dense head 5–15 mm in diameter with individual spikelets<br />
hardly discernible; inflorescence bract often shorter than inflorescence,<br />
glume-like and with an excurrent mucro; spikelet 5–8 mm long; in temporarily<br />
wet places in grassland, swamps or rocky slopes. E. and W. Africa,<br />
occasional in southern Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
Bulbostylis macra (Ridl.) Lye<br />
Bulbostylis macra (Ridl.) C.B.Clarke; Bulbostylis zambesica C.B.Clarke;<br />
Fimbristylis macra Ridl.<br />
Perennial, tufted, base swollen; leaves numerous almost filiform; inflores-<br />
CYPERACEAE<br />
Southern Africa to Tanzania; also in Madagascar.<br />
No country given. 1967, Richards 22590 (UZL).<br />
Murdannia simplex (Vahl) Brenan <br />
Commelina simplex Vahl<br />
Perennial, robust, erect or sprawling herb; flowers light mauve to bluish, usually<br />
opening in the late afternoon; in woodland, wooded grassland, and dambos.<br />
South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and widespread in tropical Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park; footpath to Chisanga Falls, 2000, Smook<br />
10765 (PRE); Runyina River Bridge, 2000, Willis 201 (PRE).<br />
cence a solitary terminal, brown spikelet 6–13 mm long; in dryish woodlands.<br />
Widespread in tropical Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
Bulbostylis oligostachys (Hochst.) Lye<br />
Annual tufted with numerous flowering culms; culms angular with deep<br />
ridges; inflorescence a congested umbel, glumes black, pubescent. In seasonally<br />
wet soils in ditches and on shallow soils on rocks. E. and Central<br />
Africa and Angola.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, between Dam #2 and Chelinda Hill, 2000,<br />
Smook 10831 (PRE, MAL, UZL, SRGH, LMA).<br />
Bulbostylis oritrephes (Ridl.) C.B.Clarke<br />
Abildgaardia oritrephes (Ridl.) Lye; Bulbostylis trichobasis (Baker)<br />
C.B.Clarke; Bulbostylis caespitosa Peter<br />
Slender perennial with culms growing in rows from a horizontal rhizome,<br />
lowest part of culms thickened and bulb-like; inflorescence usually with 1–<br />
3 (10) spikelets; spikelet 4–8 mm long, glumes dark reddish brown; on<br />
bare ground, in open seasonally wet grassland or disturbed areas, in heavily<br />
trodden or grazed areas; 950–1,700 m. Common in southern Africa;<br />
also in tropical Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Nganda, 1972, Synge 369 (K, MAL).<br />
No country given. 1959, Robinson 3073 (UZL).<br />
Bulbostylis pilosa (Willd.) Cherm.<br />
Abildgaardia pilosa (Willd.) Nees; Fimbristylis africana T.Durand. &<br />
Schinz; Fimbristylis aphyllanthoides Ridl.<br />
A densely tufted perennial, rhizome thick, woody and creeping, culms<br />
crowded; inflorescence a solitary terminal head of 3–10 clustered spikelets;<br />
spikelet 8–15 mm long, ovate, compressed below, glumes golden or reddish<br />
brown; in open grassland or savanna; sea-level to 1,200 m. Tropical<br />
Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill<br />
1979).<br />
Bulbostylis pusilla (A.Rich.) C.B.Clarke<br />
Annual, slender; capillary leaves; spikelets few, narrow, brown; moist grassy<br />
places, often on rock outcrops. Southern Africa, Central Africa, and Ethiopia;<br />
also in W. Africa and Chad.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Juniper Forest area, 2000, Smook 10922B<br />
(MAL, PRE).<br />
Bulbostylis scabricaulis Cherm.<br />
Abildgaardia collina (Ridl.) Lye<br />
Perennial, tufted with small clusters of bulb-like persistent culms, bases<br />
remaining attached to each other, the new ones arising within the broadened<br />
and hardened lower leaf-sheaths; inflorescence hemispherical with<br />
numerous spikelets; spikelets dark, culms scabrid hairy below inflorescence;<br />
in moist places. Southern Africa, eastern and W. Africa; also in Madagascar.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, circular drive to Dembo River Bridge, 2000,<br />
Smook 10805 (PRE).<br />
Bulbostylis sp.<br />
Resembling a capitate form of B. contexta? (= Abildgaardia contexta).<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973).<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
297<br />
CYPERACEAE
CYPERACEAE<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Nganda, 1972, Synge 368 (BR, EA, K, LISC,<br />
MAL, P, PRE, SRGH, UPS).<br />
Carex aethiopica Schkur.<br />
Perennial, tufted and leafy; leaves often red at base; inflorescence several<br />
erect spikes from upper nodes of culm, glumes reddish brown; along forest<br />
margins near watercourses. Occurring mainly in South Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Juniper Forest area, 2000, Smook 10917 (PRE,<br />
MAL).<br />
Carex brassii Nelmes<br />
Perennial, tufted and leafy; inflorescence a slender panicle, glumes light<br />
brown; on stream banks in dense shade. Main known locality is Mt.<br />
Mulanje, Malawi. Closely related to C. spicato-paniculata.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park. without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
Carex chlorosaccus C.B.Clarke<br />
Carex echinochloe Kunze var. chlorosaccus (C.B.Clarke) Kük.<br />
Perennial, tufted and leafy, rhizome woody; culms obtusely triquetrous;<br />
inflorescence a slender, much-branched panicle; spikelet 6–20 mm long; in<br />
moist forests and along paths and roads. Widespread, but mainly E. Africa<br />
to Ethiopia.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Juniper Forest, 2000, Smook 10904 (MAL, PRE).<br />
Carex cognata Kunth var. congolensis (Turrill) Lye<br />
Carex congolensis Turrill; Carex pseudo-sphaerogyna Nelmes<br />
Perennial, tufted with small groups of culms arising together from short<br />
scaly stolons; inflorescence of 4–6 erect crowded spikes; in medium-altitude<br />
swamps. Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, and D.R.C. Very close to var.<br />
cognata.<br />
No country given. Nyika Plateau, 1967, Richards 22474 (UZL).<br />
Carex conferta Hochst. ex A.Rich. var. lycurus (K.Schum.)<br />
Lye<br />
Carex lycurus K.Schum.<br />
Perennial, robust, rhizome thick and creeping, roots pale; culm triangular;<br />
leaf 5–12 mm wide; inflorescence dense panicle; spikelet 5–10 mm long;<br />
upland swamps, along streams, and near lakes. N. Malawi, Tanzania, and<br />
Kenya; possibly also in Zimbabwe.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
No country given. 1967, Richards 22455 (UZL).<br />
Carex echinochloe Kunze<br />
Perennial, tufted, leafy, rhizomatous; inflorescence a panicle; in open forest<br />
and woodland. Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and D.R.C.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park. without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).<br />
Carex petitiana A.Rich.<br />
Carex fischeri K.Schum.; Carex cuprea (Kük.) Nelmes; Carex<br />
ninagongensis (Kük.) Robyns & Tournay<br />
Perennial, tufted or shortly creeping; culms bluntly triangular; inflorescence<br />
of 5–8 erect or drooping dense spikes, arising singly from leaf sheaths; in<br />
wet habitats along paths and streams. Ethiopia, E. Africa, Rwanda, and<br />
D.R.C. down to Zimbabwe; also in Nigeria and Cameroon.<br />
No country given. 1959, Robinson 3028 (UZL).<br />
Carex spicato-paniculata C.B.Clarke <br />
Perennial, tufted, rhizome thick; culms triangular; inflorescence of 1–2 pyramidal<br />
panicles from each of the upper leaf sheaths; spikelet 5–10 mm<br />
long; open to dense forest. Ethiopia, S.E. tropical Africa, and South Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Thazima Gate, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo<br />
6759 (MAL); Sangule Kopje area, 2000, Smook 10855 (PRE, MAL, UZL,<br />
SRGH, LMA); Mbuzinandi, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo 6818 (MAL).<br />
Coleochloa setifera (Ridley) Gilly <br />
Densely tufted perennial grass-like plant; leaves convolute-cylindrical, 0.5–<br />
2.5 mm wide when flattened, upper surface glabrous, lower surface hairy;<br />
298 Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
inflorescence a lax panicle of 1–3 fascicles of spikes, spikelets 2–3 mm long;<br />
forming dense clumps on bare rock surfaces, often very common. Widespread<br />
in eastern tropical Africa from South Africa to Kenya; also in Madagascar.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Fingira Rock, 2000, Winter 4211 (PRE).<br />
Courtoisina cyperoides (Roxb.) Soják <br />
Courtoisina cyperoides (Roxb.) Nees<br />
Tufted annual, has a ‘fenugreek’ odour; inflorescence with many almost<br />
spherical spikes; spikelets 3.8–4.2 mm long, glumes yellowish grey with a<br />
green, strongly winged midrib; in seasonally wet grassland and temporary<br />
pools. Southern Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and<br />
Tanzania.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, 2.5 km from Thazima Gate, 2000, Burrows<br />
& Maroyi 6816 (MAL, PRE).<br />
Cyperus alopecuroides Rottb.<br />
Juncellus alopecuroides (Rottb.) C.B.Clarke<br />
Robust perennial; culms triangular; basal leaves crowded; inflorescence<br />
umbel-like with 1–many clusters of spikes; spikelet 2.5–8.0 mm long; in<br />
swamps and other wet areas, usually in standing water. Widespread in southern<br />
and tropical Africa; also in Madagascar, India, and Australia.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel<br />
1999).<br />
Cyperus amabilis Vahl<br />
Annual, slender to robust; culms solitary or crowded; leaf-sheaths short,<br />
reddish brown to purple; inflorescence orange-brown; in seasonally wet<br />
habitats, often in sandy soils near roads, lakes, and swamps. Widespread in<br />
tropical and South Africa; also in Madagascar, India, and S. America.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chosi Hill, 2000, Burrows & Burrows 6739<br />
(MAL, PRE).<br />
Cyperus angolensis Boeck. <br />
Tall perennial, stoloniferous with solitary culms from swollen culm-bases;<br />
inflorescence globose, dirty white; dry grassland with scrub and scattered<br />
trees, often in places where burning is frequent. Common in tropical Africa,<br />
less frequent in southern Africa.<br />
Source. Brummitt (1973).<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, plateau above upper Mondwe Valley, 1972,<br />
Synge 396 (K, MAL).<br />
Cyperus denudatus L.f. var. lucenti-nigricans (K.Schum.)<br />
Kük.<br />
Perennial; culms sharply triangular to almost winged; inflorescence more<br />
usually tightly congested; spikelets blackish; in upland swamps and wet<br />
grasslands. Widespread in tropical Africa.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, near Juniper Forest, 2000, Smook 10913<br />
(PRE, MAL, UZL, SRGH, LMA).<br />
Cyperus distans L.f.<br />
Tufted perennial, rhizome short, thick; culms in a row or solitary; basal<br />
parts covered with leaf-sheaths; inflorescence compound umbel-like, at the<br />
base enclosed by a greenish to purplish tubular prophyll ending in two<br />
teeth or short blades; spikelet 7–20 mm long; wettish grasslands, streamsides,<br />
edges of pools and ditches, roadside banks, and in cultivation. Tropical<br />
and South Africa, Madagascar; Asia, Philippines, and Australia.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Dembo bridge, 2000, Thera 3024 (MAL).<br />
Cyperus esculentus L. var. esculentus<br />
Perennial, robust, stoloniferous with root tubers; inflorescence of one sessile<br />
and 3–10 stalked spikes; spikelets 5–20 mm long, obtuse, brown or<br />
rust coloured; in seasonally wet grassland and swamps; also a weed of<br />
cultivation. Cosmopolitan, but in warmer areas.<br />
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Thazima Gate, 2000, Burrows & Maroyi 6819<br />
(MAL, PRE).<br />
Cyperus exaltatus Retz.<br />
?Cyperus immensus C.B.Clarke var. taylorii C.B.Clarke
Courtoisina cyperoides<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
10 mm<br />
10 mm<br />
260 mm<br />
Fuirena stricta<br />
subsp. chlorocarpa<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Eleocharis brainii<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
Cyperus<br />
pseudoleptocladus<br />
Isolepis fluitans<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
20 mm<br />
Del. Sandie Burrows<br />
175 mm<br />
Plants of the Nyika Plateau<br />
20 mm<br />
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