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Microcos magnifica (Sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from Cameroon

BACKGROUND: Although many new species to science have been discovered from thousands of specimens resulting from botanical inventories to support conservation management in Cameroon in recent years, additional species remain to be formally evaluated taxonomically and described. These include species...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Cheek, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5721905/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29230369
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4137
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author Cheek, Martin
author_facet Cheek, Martin
author_sort Cheek, Martin
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Although many new species to science have been discovered from thousands of specimens resulting from botanical inventories to support conservation management in Cameroon in recent years, additional species remain to be formally evaluated taxonomically and described. These include species from genera which have been taxonomically neglected for many decades in Africa, such as Microcos. METHODS: This study is based mainly on herbarium specimens and field observations made in Cameroon during a series of botanical surveys. Herbarium material was examined with a Leica Wild M8 dissecting binocular microscope fitted with an eyepiece graticule. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Microcos magnifica Cheek (Malvaceae-Grewioideae or Sparrmanniaceae) is described as an Endangered (EN B2 ab(iii)) new tree species from the submontane forests of Cameroon. It is illustrated and described, and its conservation status and taxonomic affinities are assessed. It is the first new Microcos described from Africa in more than 90 years and is unique on the continent in having sculptured fruits. DISCUSSION: A systematic revision, with a molecular phylogenetic study, of Microcos Burm. ex L. in Africa is necessary if the affinities of the species, including M. magnifica, are to be reliably established.
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spelling pubmed-57219052017-12-11 Microcos magnifica (Sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from Cameroon Cheek, Martin PeerJ Biodiversity BACKGROUND: Although many new species to science have been discovered from thousands of specimens resulting from botanical inventories to support conservation management in Cameroon in recent years, additional species remain to be formally evaluated taxonomically and described. These include species from genera which have been taxonomically neglected for many decades in Africa, such as Microcos. METHODS: This study is based mainly on herbarium specimens and field observations made in Cameroon during a series of botanical surveys. Herbarium material was examined with a Leica Wild M8 dissecting binocular microscope fitted with an eyepiece graticule. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Microcos magnifica Cheek (Malvaceae-Grewioideae or Sparrmanniaceae) is described as an Endangered (EN B2 ab(iii)) new tree species from the submontane forests of Cameroon. It is illustrated and described, and its conservation status and taxonomic affinities are assessed. It is the first new Microcos described from Africa in more than 90 years and is unique on the continent in having sculptured fruits. DISCUSSION: A systematic revision, with a molecular phylogenetic study, of Microcos Burm. ex L. in Africa is necessary if the affinities of the species, including M. magnifica, are to be reliably established. PeerJ Inc. 2017-12-05 /pmc/articles/PMC5721905/ /pubmed/29230369 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4137 Text en ©2017 Cheek http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Biodiversity
Cheek, Martin
Microcos magnifica (Sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from Cameroon
title Microcos magnifica (Sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from Cameroon
title_full Microcos magnifica (Sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from Cameroon
title_fullStr Microcos magnifica (Sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from Cameroon
title_full_unstemmed Microcos magnifica (Sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from Cameroon
title_short Microcos magnifica (Sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from Cameroon
title_sort microcos magnifica (sparrmanniaceae) a new species of cloudforest tree from cameroon
topic Biodiversity
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5721905/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29230369
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4137
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