Ehoarn Bidault

Missouri Botanical Garden · Africa & Madagascar

Background and aims – For some time now, the forests of the Sanaga basin in Cameroon have been threatened by the construction of numerous hydroelectric dams. In anticipation to this construction work, botanical surveys were carried out, resulting in the discovery of many species new to science. One of these certainly belongs to the genus Talbotiell...

Convolvulaceae is a diverse and economically important plant family in Tropical Africa, including the crop sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) and its wild relatives, morning glories (Ipomoea L.), bindweeds (Convolvulus L.), invasive weeds (e.g. Cuscuta L.) and several other species with food, medicinal, or traditional uses. A taxonomic treatm...

Ce document présente les plans d'actions de conservation multi-espèces définis pour les 101 espèces et infra-espèces d'arbres les plus menacées du Gabon, dans le but de garantir leur survie.

Préserver la biodiversité tout en permettant le développement économique est l'un des plus grands enjeux de ce siècle. Le Gabon est un pays riche de ses ressources naturelles, présentant une flore diversifiée et des habitats majoritairement forestiers et bien préservés. Il constitue donc un cas d'étude de premier plan. Cependant, la flore et les éc...

Following a first workshop on the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) of Gabon organized in December 2021 by the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Herbier National du Gabon and the KBA General Secretariat, the Bezos Earth Fund dedicated a budget to identify Gabon’s KBA in order to, among others, address the ‘30 x 30’ objective (30 % of the national territory...

Background and aims – Within angiosperms, vivipary has been reported in less than 0.1% of all species. We herein report the first occurrence of vivipary in an Afrotropical Melastomataceae and discuss its phylogenetic position, habit, habitat, and fruit attributes. Material and methods – Observational data were gathered from a field expedition to Ga...

The Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea (CVPRG) is a specimen-based, expert-validated knowledge product, which provides a concise synthesis and overview of current knowledge on 3901 vascular plant species documented from Guinea (Conakry), West Africa, including their accepted names and synonyms, as well as their distribution...

Background and aims – Podostemaceae is a family of strictly aquatic plants found in rapids and waterfalls. Despite a recent treatment in the Flore du Gabon, the family remained poorly known, with no major studies including Gabonese collections, and almost no targeted inventories since 1966. We present the first large-scale inventory of this family...

The fern genus Didymoglossum (Hymenophyllaceae) is not so diverse in Africa with seven species at most. However, its local taxonomy is surprisingly still strongly debated, in particular within the D. erosum complex interpreted either as a single polymorphic species or as a group of at least three distinct but morphologically very close taxa (D. ero...

A study of the genus Erythroxylum P.Browne from the Comoros archipelago reveals two new species, E. choungiense E.Bidault, Traclet & M.Pignal, sp. nov. from Mayotte and E. labatii E.Bidault & M.Pignal, sp. nov. from Mwali and Ngazidja, both of which are described and illustrated. The distribution of a third species, E. elegans Baill., is now only k...

We propose a floristic description of the montane savannas of the Nimba, an interpretation in terms of ecosystem typology, and a discussion on the spatial distribution and geomorphology, based on a discussion of the literature and vegetation plots surveyed during a field visit. The dynamics of the different types of savannas is then discussed and a...

Background and aims – The genus Englerodendron (Leguminosae-Detarioideae) has recently been enlarged to include Isomacrolobium and Pseudomacrolobium, and currently includes 18 tropical African species. The recent discovery of a new species in Gabon has led us to re-evaluate the delimitation of several taxa in the genus. Material and methods – This...

Endemism is one of the most important concepts in biogeography and is often used to guide biodiversity conservation, yet our understanding of the determinants of endemism in many biodiverse tropical regions is limited. This is true for western Central Africa, a region with one of the highest levels of plant diversity in tropical Africa, where endem...

A systematic survey of lichens was performed in 2019 in four of the five territories constituting the French Scattered Islands (Europa Island, Juan de Nova, Glorioso Islands, and Tromelin) focusing on the genus Ramalina. Species were characterized using morphological (macroscopic and microscopic) features and an accurate chemical profiling method b...

Aphanocalyx pectinatus has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2020. Aphanocalyx pectinatus is listed as Endangered under criteria B2ab(iii).

Chaetocarpus gabonensis has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2020. Chaetocarpus gabonensis is listed as Vulnerable under criteria B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii).

Over the last several years, the IUCN Red List approach for assessing the risk of extinction faced by species has been adapted into a Red List of Ecosystems methodology. This endeavor faces several important challenges, including how to define the types of ecosystems to which the Red List criteria are applied, and how to manage information on the g...

Le projet pluridisciplinaire RECOFFIE, mené conjointement par l’UMS PatriNat, le CBN-CPIE Mascarin et le Missouri Botanical Garden et plusieurs partenaires associés (Tableau 1), s’inscrit dans une thématique globale d’amélioration des connaissances de la biodiversité terrestre des îles Éparses. Un premier volet est dédié à la détermination fine de...

The High Conservation Value (HCV) concept, developed by the Forest Stewardship Council to promote sustainable forest management, is widely employed for certification of forestry and agriculture concessions, and has been adopted by many logging and palm oil companies. HCV criterion 1, which deals with “endemic, and rare, threatened or endangered spe...

Eugenia ogoouensis is a small tree up to 5 cm in diameter, known from mature or secondary terra firme forest, riverside forest, flooded forest, and swamp forest, between 10 and 110 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from 22 collections, the oldest three of which were made in 1912 by Fleury in the vicinity of Nkogo in the O...

Cassipourea dinklagei is a small shrub up to 2.5 m high, known from terra firme forest, exploited or mature, or from wet valley bottoms, rarely swampy. One collection was made in the coastal forest. Its known altitudinal amplitude is 20 to 65 m. The species is probably endemic to Cameroon. Six collections from Gabon have been identified as belongin...

Warneckea macrantha is a large tree up to 30 m tall, known from periodically inundated forests near rivers, between 10 and 130 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Central Africa, occurring in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. It is known from 12 collections, of which 11 were made in Gabon and one in the Republic of the Congo. It has first...

Magnistipula devriesii is a shrub or a small tree, up to 6 m tall, known from mature and secondary terra firme forest between 100 and 150 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from two collections made by Breteler in 1994 in the region of Ndjolé (Moyen-Ogooué), about 10 km and 20-30 km north-northwest of the city, thus repres...

Rothmannia jollyana is a treelet up to 5 m high, known from the undergrowth of terra firme forest, between 300 and 600 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Central Africa, occurring in Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and Angola (Cabinda). It is known from seven collections made between 1876 and 1987, of which one was collected by Soyaux in 1...

Memecylon salicifolium is a small tree, known from terra firme forest and edge of the savannah, between 400 and 600 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from five collections from three localities: Bélinga (Ogooué-Ivindo) in the north-eastern part of the country (Hallé 566; 2919; 3824, collected in 1964 and 1966), Ndjolé (Mo...

Polyscias aequatoguineensis is a shrub or a small tree up to 6 m tall, known from inselbergs, at the edges of exposed rocks, between 600 and 800 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Atlantic Central Africa, occurring in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. It is known from eight collections, of which five (three occurrences) were made between 1998 and...

Cleistanthus bambidianus is a non timber tree up to 20 m high known from mature forests up to 500 m elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and known from 12 collections made in the Ogooué Ivindo province (south of Ayem; Forêt des Abeilles; and twice in CFAD Rougier Ivindo) and in the Ogooué-Lolo province (five times NE of Lastourville; at Koula...

Englerodendron triplisomere is a small rainforest tree up to 9 m tall and 7 cm dbh, known from lowland and submontane terra firme forests, and found between 50 and 1,000 m elevation. It is morphologically separated from other Englerodendron spp. by leaves 2-jugate, rarely 1-jugate or unifoliolate, but then 2-jugate leaves also present; sepals with...

The species has been assessed as VU D2 by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre in 1998. These assessors only included the type collection known from a forested area around Tchibanga in Gabon, and mentioned that the species may be more widespread given that the country's forests are relatively unexplored. However, they considered that many fores...

Englerodendron hallei is a small tree up to 7 m height, known from mature terra firme forests and riverside forests, between 5 and 500 m elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and known from 17 herbarium collections and four human observations, that were mainly collected/observed in the Estuaire province (16 collections and the four human obser...

Craibia macrantha is a tree up to 20 m high found in lowland forest, between 350─460 m elevation. The species occurs in Gabon and in the Republic of the Congo. It is known from four collections representing four occurrences, of which three were made in Gabon by Le Testu (7992) in 1930 near the city Koulamoutou, by Breteler (14795) in 1999 east of t...

The aim of this report consists in identifying ecosystems of special conservation value in order to review the current Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in the Lofa-Gola-Mano and Nimba complexes (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast), using up-to-date international standards (Bland et al. 2015; KBA Standards and Appeals Committee 2019; Rodriguez...

Synsepalum ogouense is a small tree up to 7 m with pubescent stipules and with very small flowers in few fascicles in the axils of the leaves, known from the undergrowth of the terra firme forest around 300 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is only known from one collection, thus one occurrence, made by Le Testu in 1929 in the reg...

Trichoscypha debruijnii is a treelet up to 5 m tall and 3-5 cm in diameter with tomentellous branchlets and hairs stellate, known from the undergrowth of the terra firme forest around 300 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is only known from one collection, thus one occurrence, made by Maesen in 1988 in the region of Lastourville i...

Rinorea abbreviata is a small tree up to 8 m, known from terra firme humid forest at 240 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is only known from one collection, thus one occurrence, made by Breteler in 1991 in Missanga, 5-15 km north-west of Ndjolé (Moyen-Ogooué). Based on a 2 km x 2 km cell size, the AOO is estimated as 4 km2, below...

Uvariodendron molundense var. citrata is a shrub up to 5 m tall, with lemongrass-like bark, known from the edge between the slope forest and the crest thicket, on a rocky plateau with shallow soil, from 800 to 950 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is restricted to the region of Belinga, northeast of Gabon (Ogooué-Ivindo province)....

Rhaptopetalum belingense is a shrub up to 6 m high, known from forest vegetation at the edge of savanna, and terra firme forest, between 650 and 900 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from two collections, thus two occurrences, one made by Hallé in 1966 in the region of Belinga, northeast of Gabon (Ogooué-Ivindo province)...

Octoknema belingensis is a tree up to 12 m tall, known from rocky bed of permanent creek in closed high forest, around 850 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is only known from one collection, thus one occurrence, made by Breteler in 1978 in the Belinga mountains in the Ogooué-Ivindo province. Based on a 2 km x 2 km cell size, the...

Gilbertiodendron barbulatum is a tree up to 25 m tall and 20 cm in diameter, known from terra firme forest around 275 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is only known from one collection, thus one occurrence, made by Le Testu in 1927 near Maghounga in the Ngounié province. Based on a 2 km x 2 km cell size, the AOO is estimated as 4...

Erythrina wieringae is a large tree, up to 28 m tall, known from evergreen terra firme forest, around 500 m in elevation. The species is endemic to northeastern Gabon, and is only known from one collection, thus one occurrence, made by Wieringa in 2000 between Makokou and Mékambo (Ogooué-Ivindo province). Based on a 2 km x 2 km cell size, the AOO i...

Englerodendron brachyrhachis is a small tree, c. 6 m tall and 5 cm in diameter, growing in evergreen terra firme forest around 350 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is only known from one collection, thus one occurrence, made by Louis in 1983 in the "Forêt des Abeilles" (southeast of Achouka) in the Ogooué-Ivindo province. Based o...

Tapura carinata is a tree up to 20 m tall, known from terra firme forest, mature or secondary, on ridges, on slopes, or at the bottom of valleys, sometimes in swampy forests, between 60 and 200 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Atlantic Central Africa, occurring in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. It is known from 9 collections, of whic...

Tapura neglecta is a shrub or a tree up to 8 m tall and 10 cm in diameter, known from the undergrowth in terra firme forest, between 150 and 250 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is only known from two collections, one made by Le Testu in 1926 in the region of Mandji (Ogooué-Lolo province) and the other one by Breteler in 1994 in...

Dactyladenia ndjoleensis is a small tree up to 12 m high and 15 cm in diameter, known from terra firme forest, between 50 and 250 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from four collections, of which three were made in 1992 (two by McPherson and one by Breteler), a few kilometers north of Ndjolé (Moyen-Ogooué), and one was ma...

Deinbollia rambaensis is a small tree up to 5 m tall, known from terra firme forest, between 300 and 350 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from two collections from the region of Lastourville (Ogooué-Lolo province), of which one was made by Le Testu in 1932 at Ramba and one by Breteler in 1970, 4 km SW of Lastoursville, i...

Sericanthe mpassa was preliminarily assessed according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria by Sonké et al. in 2012 as VU D2. However, this evaluation was not published on the IUCN website. We hereby propose an update of this assessment. Sericanthe mpassa is a small tree restricted to the terra firme forest at c. 300 m in elevation. This s...

Colletoecema gabonensis was preliminarily assessed according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria by Dessein et al., in 2011 as VU D2. However, this evaluation is outdated and was not published on the IUCN website. Therefore, we propose an update of this assessment, based on threat identification and the addition of a new collection. Colle...

Aporrhiza letestui is a small tree up to 15 m tall, known from riversides in terra firme forest, between 600 and 650 m in elevation. The species is known from Gabon and Cameroon and represented by 3 collections. Two collections were made by Le Testu in Gabon, in the region of Oyem (Woleu-Ntem) in 1933 and 1934: one in Acam (Le Testu 9108) and one i...

Mocquerysia distans is a shrub up to 3 m tall and up to 3 cm in diameter, known from the undergrowth of terra firme forest, between 250 and 350 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from three collections, one made by Louis in 1983 in the southeast of Achouka in the “Forêt des Abeilles” and two others made by Wilks in 1984, a...

Glenniea unijugata is a small tree up to 10 cm in diameter, known from lowland and mountain terra firme forests, between 300 and 1,100 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Central Africa occurring in Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni). This species is known from 13 collections made between 1908 (Le Te...

Dactyladenia jongkindii is a small tree up to 6 m high, known from terra firme forest, riverine forest, exploited or mature, and mangrove fringes, between 0 and 100 m in elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from 7 collections, of which one was made by Reitsma in 1986 in the region of Libreville, at the edge of mangroves. One coll...

Anthonotha mouandzae is a medium-sized forest tree up to 20 m tall and 60 cm in diameter, known from lowland terra firme forest, between 0 and 200 m in elevation. It is endemic to Gabon and known from 7 collections. Three collections were made in the Ogooué-Maritime, including one by Harris in 2005 in Loango National Park and another collected by M...

Baphia cymosa is a shrub or a small tree to 7 m tall, known from wetland and riverside rainforest, between 25 and 50 m elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and is known from three collections which represent three occurrences. The first specimen was collected in 1986 at Lambaréné in the Moyen-Ogooué, the second in 2004 within the Loango Natio...

Gilbertiodendron imenoense is a tree up to 25 m height and up to 90 cm in diameter that occurs in terra firme rainforests, between 130 and 700 m elevation. The species is endemic to Gabon and known from eight herbarium collections made between 1927 (Le Testu 6417) and 2012 (plot data at Gomé with Boupoya as team leader) from seven localities in Gab...

Bidault, E. & W.J. van der Burg (2019). Novitates Gabonenses 90: Palisota (Commelinaceae) revisited: description of eight new species from Central Africa and notes on the identity of P. satabiei and P. bogneri. In English, English and French abstracts. Candollea 74: 169–202. A review of the taxonomy of Palisota Rchb. ex Endl. (Commelinaceae) in Atl...

Le projet pluridisciplinaire RECOFFIE, mené conjointement par l’UMS PatriNat, le CBN-CPIE Mascarin et le Missouri Botanical Garden, s’inscrit dans une thématique globale d’amélioration des connaissances de la biodiversité des îles Éparses. Un premier volet est dédié à la détermination fine de certains taxons de la flore vasculaire terrestre dont la...

Background-The number of vascular plant species known to occur in Gabon rises quickly due to renewed collecting and inventory activities, often in little-known or previously uncollected areas. Methods-Herbarium material from BR, BRLU and WAG was studied. Results-Two genera (Alloteropsis, Entolasia), eleven species and one variety of grasses are rec...

Background and aims – The intensive botanical prospections carried out in Gabon since the publication of the national checklist in 2006 have resulted in c. 34 300 new specimens (amounting to 30% of all collections made in the country) and an annual increase of 25 species in average. As a result, 5175 species of vascular plants are now recorded from...

The concept of High Conservation Value (HCV) was developed by the Forest Stewardship Council to support sustainable forest management. It provides a standard that many Gabonese logging companies have employed to certify their production. The concept is also used for the certification of sustainable palm groves and can also be directly transposed to...

This article provides a visual overview of the relationships of all angiosperm families (following APG IV). The poster lists important characters for major grades and clades and these are illustrated with flower images of 269 plant families. It is presented to provide a useful educational tool. The scientific names and photo accreditation of each i...

Floral anatomy of the monotypic Gabonese genus Pseudartabotrys Pellegrin was studied, in order to get a better understanding of the origin of pseudosyncarpy and its morphological context. Receptacle vasculature is moderately advanced with a partial perianth cortical vascular system, however much less developed than that of Annona L. Anther histolog...

In this study, we describe the main types of ecosystems in south-east Kouilou using remotely sensed staellite image classification combined with landform and ecosystem interpretations. The species of conservation value and their distribution is also described.

During the last twenty years, intensive field campaigns have been carried out in Gabon, resulting in a 30 % increase of collections. Gabonese flora is one of the most computed in the world, with more than 90 % of the total number of collections represented in databases, allowing continuous new findings, in particular for endemic and rare species. S...

Polystachya orophila, a new species of Orchidaceae, is described based on specimens collected during the baseline study of the Guinean Nimba Mountains for the environmental impact assessment for a proposed mining project. While material belonging to this species was mentioned as early as 1920 by Chevalier, it has historically been confused with P....

An illustrated introduction to the angiosperm flora of Gabon.

Based on a careful examination of more than 700 herbarium specimens and field investigation, a comprehensive revision of the genus Massularia is given. Massularia stevartiana, a new species from Central African Republic, Cameroon and Gabon is described and illustrated. The novelty is distinguished from M. acuminata, the only other species previousl...

Une nouvelle espèce de Foetidia Comm. ex Lam., Foetidia comorensis Labat, Bidault & Viscardi, est décrite pour l'archipel des Comores. Cette espèce, proche morphologiquement de F. africana Verdc, et F. macrocarpa Bosser, n'est recensée que d'une seule localité sur l'île de Mayotte : la pointe de Sazilé. Cette unique population, réduite et soumise à...