Kosteletzkya adoensis (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Mast.

Malvaceae, Bernard Verdcourt & Geoffrey Mwachala. Pavonia, B Verdcourt; Kosteletzkya, OJ Blanchard Jr.; Gossypium, P Fryxell & B Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2009

Type

Type: Ethiopia, near Adoa, Schimper 341 (P!, Herb. Steudel, lecto., chosen here; BM!, BR!, FT!, L!, LE!, LISU!, M, P!, UC!, W!, iso.)

Morphology General Habit

Perennial herb or subshrub, climbing, scrambling or procumbent, sometimes rooting at the nodes, 0.5–3 m long, stems pubescent with spreading simple or fewarmed stellate hairs.

Morphology Roots

Roots fibrous-thickened

Morphology Leaves

Leaves ovate to orbicular in outline, the lowest usually broadly transversely ovate, 2.5–6(–9) × 2.5–8(–11) cm, cordate or broadly cordate at base, sometimes the upper leaves truncate to broadly cuneate, margin unevenly serrate or crenate-serrate, most leaves 3(–5)-angulate-lobate or -lobed, the principal lateral lobes at about the distal 1/2–1/3 of the blade, apices acute to short-acuminate, sparingly pubescent above with mostly simple, ± appressed hairs, beneath more densely pubescent, usually with a mixture of simple hairs and coarse 3-armed hairs, sometimes underlain with much finer stellate hairs; petiole 0.3–5 cm long, 1/2 to equalling the blade except the uppermost; stipules linear, 4–8 mm long, setose

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers single in axils of upper leaves or in groups of 2–3, or often on lateral branches with reduced leaves; pedicel 0.8–3 cm long, often somewhat deflexed distally after anthesis, abruptly more densely pubescent and often thickened distally, this transition becoming joint-like at fruiting; epicalyx broadly funnelform or rotate or the segments slightly recurved, these 5–9, linear-subulate, 3–7 mm long, setose; calyx funnelform-campanulate, 4–6.5(–8) mm long, lobed for 2/3–5/6 its length, the lobes triangular, acute to short-acuminate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla creamy white to pink to mauve, dark purplish near the base, this sometimes radiating in lines distally, funnelform to rotate, the petals broadly and asymmetrically obovate, 8–22 × 4–18 mm, apically rounded.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Staminal column 4–14(–18) mm long, anthers 10–35, distributed in the distal 1/2 to 1/3 of the staminal column.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style

Style-branches pale pink to white, exserted 1.3–4 mm

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruits olivaceous- to yellowish-brown, depressed-pentagonal, 5.5–9.5 mm wide, 2/5 to 2/3 as high as wide, the capsule valves transversely rugose, sometimes with a darker median longitudinal stripe, hispid on the valve margins, otherwise glandular- and finely stellate-pubescent, long simple hairs few if any, the valve margins rounded in outline or somewhat angulate dorso-laterally.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds olivaceousto yellowish-brown, reniform-obovate, sometimes slightly impressed laterally, 2.2–2.7 mm long, sometimes with faint concentric lines, the surface papillose, grading to papillose-pubescent, the basally thickened hairs short, minute, curved.

Ecology

Clearings, secondary growth and forest edges in montane gallery forest, grassland thickets and scrub, often near streams, marshes and lake edges, and adventive into pastures, gardens and abandoned cultivated ground, in partial shade or full sun; 1000–2700 m

Note

Hibiscus adoensis was based on collections of Schimper and Quartin-Dillon. No specimen at Paris shows direct connection with A. Richard, but Schimper 341 from Herb. Steudel was undoubtedly available to him. Duplicates of this earliest known gathering of an African Kosteletzkya are widely distributed, so it has been chosen here as lectotype. The specimen label was apparently the source of the local name “Sugott” cited by Richard. On the other hand the November date given by Richard for flowering and fruiting cannot be matched among any of the collections at hand, Quaratin- Dillon’s or Schimper’s. Those with stated dates give September or October.  Garcke’s taxa Hibiscus terniflorus and Polychlaena adoensis var. ß hispidissima are included here with some reservation since no authentic specimens of either are known to be extant. The fact that the latter is from Khartoum in Sudan makes its identity further uncertain since K. adoensis is not otherwise known from N of the Imatong Mountains in that country. Concerning Hibiscus terniflorus, Garcke himself later noted (E.J. 21: 379–401 (1896)) that the name was a synonym of the earlier K. adoensis. One might accept his conclusion, trusting that Garcke would have had a good grasp of the species to be willing to make that concession, but a Schimper 32? specimen at F that is labeled Polychlaena adoensis in Garcke’s hand is in fact a Sida! The name K. adoensis var. hirsuta Oliver has appeared in various places in the literature (Oliver in Trans. Linn. Soc. London ser. 2, 2: 329 (1887), Oliver & Baker in Johnston, KilimaNjaro Exped. Appendix: 338 (1886), De Wildeman, Ann. Soc. Sci. Bruxelles 40: 113 (1921) & Fl. Katanga: 129 (1921)) but it does not seem to have been published validly. A record from Zanzibar ( Bouton s.n.) is doubtful. Some specimens from the Kigoma, Mpanda and Iringa districts in southwestern Tanzania are notable for their unusually deeply 3–5-lobed leaves or exceptionally large flowers or both.

Distribution

Flora districts: U2 U3 K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 K 7 ; T1 T2 T3 T4 T6 T7 T8 Range: West Africa from Sierra Leone to Ethiopia and south to Zimbabwe, Madagascar