Osodendron gen. nov. (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae), a new genus of mimosoid legumes of tropical Africa

• Published in: PhytoKeys Vol. 205; no. 4; pp. 453 - 470
• Main Author: Koenen, Erik J M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 22-08-2022
• Subjects: Africa; Beans; Deciduous forests; Discovery and exploration; Fabaceae; Geographical distribution; Identification and classification; Identification keys; Legumes; Mimosaceae; Morphology; New genera; Phylogeny; Physiological aspects; Rainforests; Savannahs; Species; Taxonomy; Africa; Samanea; Cathormion; taxonomy; ingoid clade; Albizia; Fabaceae
• ISSN: 1314-2011; 1314-2003
• DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.205.82821

The genus
is here newly described to accommodate three species and one subspecies of African mimosoid legumes. These taxa have previously been included by several authors in
,
and/or
, but they have been shown to be phylogenetically unrelated to any of these, being instead the sister-group of the recently described Neotropical genus
, which is similar in vegetative morphology and especially its very similar indumentum, but is decidedly different in pod morphology. A taxonomic treatment of the three species in the genus is presented, with species descriptions, photographs, distribution maps and an identification key. The type species
(Hook. f.) E.J.M. Koenen occurs in swamp and riverine rainforest and gallery forests, with the typical subsp. altissimum widespread across tropical Africa, while Osodendronaltissimumsubsp.busiraensis (G.C.C. Gilbert) E.J.M. Koenen is only known from the Busira river catchment in the western part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Of the other two species,
(Harms) E.J.M. Koenen is a common tree of rainforest and the forest-savannah transition including semi-deciduous and secondary forest as well as gallery forest and is restricted to Upper Guinea and the similar, but vegetatively more variable
(Harms) E.J.M. Koenen occupies comparable vegetation types in Lower Guinea and extends marginally into the Sudanian and Zambezian savannahs in gallery forest.