Plant Ecology and Evolution 150 (2): 173–216, 2017 https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2017.1137 REGULAR PAPER Taxonomic revision of the African genera Brieya and Piptostigma (Annonaceae) Jean-Paul Ghogue1, Bonaventure Sonké2,3,4 & Thomas L.P. Couvreur2,5,6,* 1National Herbarium, P.O. Box. 1601, Yaoundé, Cameroon 2Plant Systematic and Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 047, Yaoundé, Cameroon 3Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique africaine, CP 169, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. F. Roosevelt 50, BE-1050, Brussels, Belgium 4Missouri Botanical Garden, Africa & Madagascar Department, P.O. Box 299, 63166–0299, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA 5Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR-DIADE, BP 64501, FR-34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France 6Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, Botany Section, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, the Netherlands *Author for correspondence:
[email protected] Background and aims – Annonaceae are an important family in tropical rain forests of Africa. Here, we present a revision of the west-central African genus Piptostigma of the tribe Piptostigmateae. Previous molecular phylogenetic analyses of Piptostigmateae have revealed that the genus as currently circumscribed is paraphyletic. The aims of the article are: (1) to clarify the generic delimitation of the genus Piptostigma, especially in relation to its current polyphyletic delimitation; (2) to provide a new updated key to the genera of tribe Piptostigmateae; and (3) to provide for the first time in over 100 years a complete taxonomic revision of genera Brieya and Piptostigma. Material and methods – Normal practices of herbarium taxonomy were used for the morphological study of about 200 specimens from B, BR, BRLU, G, HBG, K, L, LBV, LISC, MO, P, U, US, WAG, YA and Z.