B2. Botanical Exploration of Angola

S T R E L I T Z I A 22 PPlants of Angola / PPlantas de Angola by E. Figueiredo & G.F. Smith Pretoria 2008 S T R E L I T Z I A This series has replaced Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa and Annals of the Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens which SANBI inherited from its predecessor organisations. The plant genus Strelitzia occurs naturally in the eastern parts of southern Africa. It comprises three arborescent species, known as wild bananas, and two acaulescent species, known as crane flowers or bird-of-paradise flowers. The logo of the South African National Biodiversity Institute is based on the striking inflorescence of Strelitzia reginae, a native of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu- Natal that has become a garden favourite worldwide. It symbolises the commitment of the Institute to promote the sustainable use, conservation, appreciation and enjoyment of the exceptionally rich biodiversity of South Africa, for the benefit of all its people. Authors Estrela Figueiredo Herbarium, Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Trav. Conde da Ribeira 9, 1300–142 Lisboa, Portugal. Gideon F. Smith Office of the Chief Director: Biosystematics Research and Biodiversity Collections, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa; Acocks Chair, H.G.W.J. Schweickerdt Herbarium, Department of Botany, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002 South Africa. SCIENTIFIC EDITOR: Otto A. Leistner TECHNICAL EDITOR: Emsie du Plessis LAYOUT & DESIGN: Elizma Fouché PHOTOGRAPH FRONT COVER: Welwitschia mirabilis in the Namibe Desert, by Paige A. Parker (www.paigeparker.com). PHOTOGRAPHS BACK COVER: Aloe esculenta, growing in cultivation in the Conserva- tory of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, by Estrela Figueiredo; Dicoma antunesii and Euphorbia virosa in Angola, by Roi Carballal. How to cite this work: FIGUEIREDO, E. & SMITH, G.F. 2008. Plants of Angola/Plantas de Angola. Strelitzia 22. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. How to cite families treated by contributors (see list on page vi): CONTRIBUTOR. 2008. Plant family name. In E. Figueiredo & G.F. Smith, Plants of Angola/Plantas de Angola. Strelitzia 22: page–page. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. All other families to be cited as this work (see top). ISBN: 978-1-919976-45-7 © Published by: South African National Biodiversity Institute. Obtainable from: SANBI Bookshop, Private Bag X101, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 843-5000. Fax: +27 12 804-3211.E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.sanbi.org. Printed by Seriti Printing (Pty) Ltd, P.O. Box 24829, Gezina, 0031 South Africa. CContents CConteúdo Foreword . iv Prefácio . v Contributors . vi Contribuidores . vi Acknowledgements . vi Agradecimentos . vi 1. Introduction . 1 1. Introdução . 1 2. Botanical exploration of Angola . 2 2. Exploração Botânica de Angola . 3 Friedrich Welwitsch . 2 Friedrich Welwitsch . 3 Hugo Baum . 2 Hugo Baum . 3 John Gossweiler . 2 John Gossweiler . 3 List of collectors . 4 Lista de colectores . 4 Herbaria with collections from Angola . 11 Herbários com colecções de Angola . 11 Types from Angola . 12 Tipos de Angola . 12 3. About this list . 13 3. Acerca desta lista. 13 Nomenclature changes and typification Alterações nomenclaturais e tipificação published in this list. 13 publicadas nesta lista . 13 Summary of diversity and endemism Sumário dos valores de diversidade e endemismo figures in this list . 13 nesta lista . 13 4. Cited and general literature references 4. Referências bibliográficas citadas e gerais and internet resources relevant to the e recursos na internet relevantes para o study of the flora of Angola . 15 estudo da flora de Angola . 15 5. List of accepted names . 21 5. Lista de nomes aceites . 21 6. List of synonyms . 217 6. Lista de sinónimos . 217 7. Index to accepted families and genera . 273 7. Índice das famílias e dos géneros aceites. 273 iii FForeword by Brian J. Huntley Angola is blessed with an unusually rich biodiversity, Carrisso led two collecting expeditions to Angola, including an with at least 6 961 plant, 275 mammal, 915 bird and 266 extensive tour in 1937 with A.W. Exell and F.A. Mendonça, freshwater fish species. In the far southwest, the Namib during which 3 211 specimens were collected, and on which Desert stretches northwards from the Cunene, inhabited by Carrisso died at Pedras Salvadoras (also known as Pico oryx, springbok and Welwitschia; in the northwest, the tall de Azevedo), in the Namib, while preparing recommenda- rainforests of the Maiombe in Cabinda harbour gorillas, chim- tions for the establishment of the Iona National Park and the panzees and many other rare primates and forest antelope; Moçâmedes Reserve. Carrisso is therefore remembered both the extensive miombo woodlands of the central plateau are as a botanist and a conservationist of singular importance to home to Angola’s national emblem—the giant sable; while the Angola. afromontane forests and grasslands of Morro Moco and the highlands and escarpments of Benguela, Huambo and Huíla Conspectus florae angolensis, edited for many years by provide habitat to a rich diversity of endemic birds. Carrisso’s friends Exell and Mendonça, served for many years as the primary vehicle for the publication of monographs on This diversity has long been valued and understood by the flora of Angola. Sadly, following independence in 1975 the people of Angola. Traditional knowledge, transferred from and the nearly three decades of civil war that followed, little one generation to the next over millennia, remains a primary opportunity existed for field research, and the government’s source of information on the country’s fauna and flora. Visitors attention had to focus on security and socio-economic priori- to Angola, such as Welwitsch, Gossweiler, Redinha, Exell and others, have paid tribute to the detailed knowledge held by ties. As a result, contributions to the Conspectus have waned, local people of the taxonomic, ecological, medicinal and eco- but the prospects of a rejuvenation of botany in Angola follow- nomic characteristics of the flora of this country. But much ing the peace accord of 2002 look promising. of this knowledge remains undocumented and thus inacces- Against this background, one can appreciate the impor- sible to the majority of the country’s people and to the world at large. tance of the present volume. When the SABONET (Southern African Botanical Diversity Network) project was launched in This volume constitutes a critically important step 1996, Angola had no full-time professional staff in its herbar- towards assembling the knowledge of the flora of Angola ia, its facilities were in a state of decay, and there seemed to within a modern, easily accessible and scientific framework. be little prospect of any improvement. Fortunately, participa- For the first time, we have a comprehensive catalogue of the tion in SABONET resulted in the training of several Angolan diversity of Angola’s flora based on published descriptions and taxonomists, the rehabilitation of the collections and the elec- herbarium material. This volume also provides a valuable syn- tronic data-basing of a good proportion of these. A preliminary opsis of botanical collectors and a comprehensive list of publi- Red Data List and a checklist of Poaceae were published, and cations on the country’s flora. a wider understanding of the importance of herbaria and field botany was developed. The first Angolan plant species described in the scientific literature was Maerua angolensis DC., collected in the This volume results from the collaboration of 32 Benguela hinterland by Joaquim José da Silva who was sent researchers in nine countries. Without the voluntary contribu- to Angola by royal warrant from 1783 to 1787 to collect tions of these scientists from around the globe, the analysis, plants. His collection, deposited in the Museu Real da Ajuda synthesis and documentation of Angola’s floral knowledge in Lisbon, was removed to Paris during the Napoleonic occu- would have been impossible. Increasingly, nations from all pation of Portugal, and was only described in 1824. continents are seeking ways of assisting one another to ensure a sustainable and humane future for all. The Convention on From this small beginning, a continuing stream of plant Biological Diversity (CBD), to which Angola is a signatory, collectors has been active in Angola, as described in a chap- spells out the joint responsibilities of every nation with regard ter of this volume. Two collectors—the Austrian Friedrich to our collective natural wealth. Angola has responded to the Welwitsch (1806–1872), and the Swiss John Gossweiler (1873–1952)—stand out as the fathers of Angolan botany, CBD programme of work by the preparation and publication having travelled and collected throughout the country over of a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which many years. Their valuable material is preserved in the her- emphasises the urgent need to build capacity in biodiversity baria of Europe, and their type specimens are now available inventory, documentation and conservation. to workers in Angola and beyond through the digital library of Much has still to be done, but this volume represents the African Plants Initiative Project. Sadly, many of the important collections and type specimens of the numerous German a major step towards meeting the Angolan government’s com- collectors who visited Angola in the late 19th and early 20th mitment to the CBD objectives. The editors and authors are century were lost in the bombing of the Berlin Herbarium dur- commended on the publication of this benchmark contribution. ing the Second World War. During the 20th century, botanists, ecologists, mission- aries, farmers and many visiting scientists added to the collections in the herbaria of Europe and in the scientific institutions of Angola. The need for a Flora of Angola was soon recognised, Emeritus Professor Brian J. Huntley and this was founded as the Conspectus florae angolensis by Chief Executive, South African National Biodiversity Institute, LLuis Wittnich Carrisso (1886–1937).

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