Raphia vinifera (Arecaceae; Calamoideae): Misidentified for far too long

By

Mogue Kamga, Suzanne
Sonké, Bonaventure
Couvreur, Thomas L.P.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-08-27

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

7

Pages

1--16

Subjects

Africa , Palisot de Beauvois , R. mannii , Raphia mambillensis , synonymy , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.7.e37757
eLocator: e37757

 

Abstract

The genusRaphia(Arecaceae/Palmae) is the most economically and culturally important genus of African palms. With over 20 recognized species, it is also the most diversified among tropical African palms. However, significant taxonomic confusion still persists in the genus.Raphia viniferaP.Beauv. is one of the first two names described in the genus, but the species has been misidentified and confused for several decades.We clarify the taxonomic identity ofR. vinifera.We retrace the taxonomic history of the name and clarify its morphological identity using the literature and type material. We synonymize the nameR. mambillensiswithR. vinifera.We provide a new detailed morphological description ofR. viniferabased on the study of herbarium material and field data. A distribution map is also provided.Raphia viniferais still incompletely known, and more research should be undertaken on this species' presence and ecology, especially in West Africa.