Abstract
SummaryThis paper reports a further discovery of a new endemic threatened species to science in the context of botanical surveys in the lowland coastal forests of Mount Cameroon in the Cross River-Sanaga interval of west-central Africa. These studies now focus on species discovery and conservation through the Tropical Important Plant Areas programme. New species to science continue to be discovered from Mt Cameroon. Most of these species are rare, highly localised, and threatened by habitat destruction, increasing the justification for improved conservation management of surviving habitat. Drypetes burnleyae is placed in and keyed out in Drypetes sect. Stipulares, a group mostly confined to Lower Guinea, here adjusted to accommodate nine species. The conservation status of Drypetes burnleyae is assessed as Endangered (EN B1+2ab(iii)) according to the 2012 criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. An updated overview of the plant endemics of Mt Cameroon is presented.
Highlights
The new species described in this paper as Drypetes burnleyae was brought to light as a result of botanical surveys to aid conservation management at and around Mount Cameroon (Cheek & Hepper 1994; Cheek et al 1996), long considered a Centre of Plant Diversity (Cheek et al 1994)
In this paper we provide the evidence that this species is new to science, formally describe it, place it within the current classification of the genus, and review the ecology, endemics, conservation importance and threats to the largely unprotected coastal forest of Mt Cameroon in which it occurs
The format of the description follows those in other papers describing new species in Drypetes e.g. Cheek et al (2000a)
Summary
The new species described in this paper as Drypetes burnleyae was brought to light as a result of botanical surveys to aid conservation management at and around Mount Cameroon (Cheek & Hepper 1994; Cheek et al 1996), long considered a Centre of Plant Diversity (Cheek et al 1994). The species is a small tree or shrub, a near endemic of the coastal forests at the foot of Mt Cameroon. In this paper we provide the evidence that this species is new to science, formally describe it, place it within the current classification of the genus, and review the ecology, endemics, conservation importance and threats to the largely unprotected coastal forest of Mt Cameroon in which it occurs. (three species in tropical Africa) and the most species-diverse genus, Drypetes Vahl which is pantropical. Drypetes is considered to have about 200 species, with only c. 20 in the Americas, the remainder in Africa
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