Vol. 80 No. 1 (2025)
Articles

Vepris viridis (Rutaceae), a new name for the most frequent and widespread unifoliolate African Vepris sp.

PDF
  • Martin Cheek,
  • W. R. Quentin Luke,
  • Roy Gereau
Martin Cheek
Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK
W. R. Quentin Luke
East African Herbarium, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya
Roy Gereau
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/jopt-17740

Published 2025-04-17

Keywords

  • Teclea simplicifolia,
  • Toddalia simplicifolia,
  • Vepris simplex,
  • Vepris simplicifolia

How to Cite

Cheek, M., Luke, W. R. Q., & Gereau, R. (2025). Vepris viridis (Rutaceae), a new name for the most frequent and widespread unifoliolate African Vepris sp. Webbia, 80(1), 105–106. https://doi.org/10.36253/jopt-17740

Copyright (c) 2025 Martin Cheek, W. R. Quentin Luke, Roy Gereau

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

We show that the name Vepris simplex Cheek (Rutaceae) intended to replace the illegitimate V. simplicifolia (Engl.) Mziray, is itself a nom. illeg. & nom. superfl. according to the Code. Therefore, we make the new combination Vepris viridis (I.Verd.) Cheek, Q.Luke & Gereau for the most widespread and frequent species of unifoliolate Vepris in continental Africa, which occurs in the E African rift from Ethiopia to Malawi and is ecologically important as a food plant for elephants.

PDF

References

  1. Beentje HJ. 1994. Kenya Trees, Shrubs and Lianas. National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
  2. Cheek M, Luke WRQ. 2023. A taxonomic synopsis of unifoliolate continental African Vepris (Rutaceae). Kew Bulletin. 78: 469–497 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-023-10120-0
  3. Ciambrone M, Langat MK, Cheek M. 2024. Vepris amaniensis: a morphological, biochemical, and molecular investigation of a species complex. PeerJ. 12: e17881. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17881
  4. Endlicher S. 1833. Prodromus Florae Norfolkicae; Catalogus stirpium quae in insula Norfolk annis 1804 et 1805 a Ferdinando Bauer collectae et depictae, nunc in Museo caesareo palatino rerum naturalium Vindobonae servantur. Vindobonae.
  5. Engler A. 1895. Planzenwelt Ost-Afrikas, C: 227–229.
  6. Friis I. 1992. Forests and forest trees of Northeast Tropical Africa. Their natural habitats and distribution patterns in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. HMSO, Middlesex, UK.
  7. Gilbert MG. 1989. Rutaceae, in Hedberg, I & Edwards, S. (Eds). Flora of Ethiopia, 3: 419–432. The National Herbarium, Univ. of Addis Ababa & Univ. Uppsala.
  8. IPNI. continuously updated. The International Plant Names Index. http://ipni.org/ (accessed: 03/2025).
  9. Kokwaro JO. 1982. Rutaceae. In: Polhill, R.M. (Ed.), Flora of Tropical East Africa, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London.
  10. Mziray W. 1992. Taxonomic studies in Toddalieae Hook.f. (Rutaceae) in Africa. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Symbolae Botanicae Upsalienses. 30: 1–95.
  11. Turland NJ, Wiersema JH, Barrie FR, Greuter W, Hawksworth DL, Herendeen PS, Knapp S, Kusber W-H, Li D-Z, Marhold K, May TW, McNeill J, Monro AM, Prado J, Price MJ, Smith GF. (Eds.) 2018. International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Shenzhen Code) adopted by the Nineteenth International Botanical Congress Shenzhen, China, July 2017. Regnum Vegetabile. 159. Glashütten: Koeltz Botanical Books.
  12. Verdoorn IC. 1926. Revision of African Toddalieae. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 9: 389–416. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4118639