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| Keetia magassoubiana Cheek, in Cheek, Yasuda, Jongkind et Bowden-Pickstock, 2025. |
Summary
Keetia magassoubiana Cheek, an evergreen rainforest climber, is described and illustrated from the Republic of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast. Previously indicated as being close to, but different from, K. tenuiflora (Hiern) Bridson, it differs in the glossy, black, glabrous, epidermis of the distal stem internodes; the first internode rarely with very sparse, red adpressed hairs (vs epidermis pale white-brown, with dense, pale yellow, spreading hairs); abaxial leaf surfaces with domed domatia with a central aperture (vs domatia absent or obscure); secondary stem leaf bases acute (vs obtuse to truncate); bracts forming a laciniate sheath on the distal peduncle (vs two opposite triangular bracts) and the pyrene surface honeycombed with pits (vs entire). The species was earlier included within Canthium multiflorum (Schum. & Thonn.) Hiern, now K. multiflora (Schum. & Thonn.) Bridson, in the Flora of West Tropical Africa, second edition. An updated key is presented to the 16 species of the genus from West Africa. Keetia magassoubiana is provisionally assessed using the IUCN standard as Endangered [EN B1ab(iii)] due to only five of the recorded 14 locations having extant forest habitat, and because of ongoing threats of habitat clearance, mainly for agriculture but also for mining.
Key Words: Conservation, extinction, liana
Keetia magassoubiana Cheek sp. nov.
Recognition. Keetia magassoubiana Cheek sp. nov. is close to but differs from K. tenuiflora in the glossy, black, glabrous epidermis of the distal stem internodes, rarely with very sparse red hairs (vs epidermis pale white-brown, densely pale yellow hairy in K. tenuiflora), abaxial leaf surface with domatia domed, with a central aperture (vs domatia absent or obscure), the secondary stem leaf bases acute (vs obtuse to truncate), the bracts forming a laciniate sheath on the distal peduncle (vs two opposite triangular bracts) and the pyrene surface honeycombed with pits (vs smooth).
Etymology. Named for Dr Sekou Magassouba, Director-General of the National Herbarium of Guinea (HNG) in the University of Gamal Abdel Nasser – Conakry, Republic of Guinea. Under his careful, tireless and diligent administration, HNG has increased greatly in its capacity to devise and manage projects, attract grants, to train students, including now at doctorate level for the first time and to develop publication of research and publicise the conservation of the threatened plant species and habitats of his country.
Martin Cheek, Shigeo Yasuda, Carel C. H. Jongkind and Joel Bowden-Pickstock. 2025. Keetia magassoubiana sp. nov. (Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae), a threatened evergreen forest climber and an updated key to Keetia in West Africa. Kew Bulletin. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s12225-024-10234-z
