Marie Claire Veranso-Libalah

Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich | LMU · Division of Systematic Botany and Mycology

Melastomateae are the most species-rich (185 spp./13 gen.) and morphologically diverse tribe within the African Melastomataceae. In this study we present the first in-depth phylogenetic analysis of African Melastomateae using sequences generated from one nuclear (nrITS) and two plastid spacers (accD-psaI, psbK-psbL) sampling 183 accessions represen...

Morphometric analysis of Phyllobotryon Müell.Arg in the Korup Forest Area of Cameroon recognizes three distinct morphospecies (1-3), which show significant variation in several leaf and fruit characters. In order to clarify the taxonomy of Phyllobotryon, we conducted univariate and multivariate analyses on sixteen quantitative and four qualitative...

Citation: Veranso-Libalah MC, Stone RD, Kadereit G (2017) Argyrella richardsiae, a new species of Melastomataceae from the wet miombo woodlands of south-central Africa. PhytoKeys 82: 113–121. https://doi. Abstract A new species from the wet miombo woodlands of Tanzania and Angola, Argyrella richardsiae Veranso-Libalah & G.Kadereit, sp. nov. (Melast...

A study was undertaken to understand the contributions of indigenous knowledge in environmental management and to evaluate some useful plants in selected tribal villages of South and Southwest Cameroon. Intensive field trips were carried out and interviews were conducted with the indigenous people using questionnaires that addressed the use of each...

Background Baolia H.W.Kung & G.L.Chu is a monotypic genus only known in Diebu County, Gansu Province, China. Its systematic position is contradictory, and its morphoanatomical characters deviate from all other Chenopodiaceae. We therefore sequenced and compared the chloroplast genomes of this species, and resolved its phylogenetic position based on...

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 increasing availability of DNA sequence data, in particular target enrichment data based on the universal Angiosperms353 probe set, but also accumulated Sanger data from previous phylogenetic studies, is facilitating the placement of taxa that are difficult to place with certainty based on morphological evidence alone. Here, we investigate phyl...

The tribe Sonerileae in tropical Africa and Madagascar is a morphologically diverse lineage that consists of 239 species in 10 genera. In this study, we present the first in‐depth phylogenetic analysis of African Sonerileae to test monophyly of the currently recognised genera. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using sequence data from two nuclea...

The Melastomataceae, with some 5858 species, are among the 10 largest families of flowering plants. Melastomes are subcosmopolitan and mainly distributed in the tropics and subtropics, with a majority of the species in the Neotropics. The family consists of 173 genera, and, as currently understood, it is divided into 3 clades (subfamilies): the Kib...

The Sonerileae are a pantropical clade that comprises 1080 species (44 genera) typically occupying shaded and humid habitats in forests. This group is morphologically diverse, including herbs, shrubs, and treelets with 3–6-merous flowers, isomorphic or dimorphic stamens, various connective appendages, and fruits as berries or capsules. The diagnost...

Dissochaeteae are a tribe of c. 90 species and six genera composed of erect, spreading terrestrial or lianous scrambling and epiphytic shrubs. The tribe inhabits the tropical lowland to mid-montane rainforests and secondary forests in Southeast Asia with the Malesian region as the center of diversity. It is mostly found in light-exposed habitats su...

Melastomateae are a diverse pantropical tribe of ~823 species in 44 genera. Members of this tribe range from herbs to medium-sized trees and occupy open and closed habitats in the lowlands to cloud forests. Cochleate seeds with tubercles, a crown of hairs or appendages on the ovary apex and the presence of staminal pedoconnectives with bifurcated v...

Abstract: Benna is a new monospecific genus in the Melastomataceae, from the Benna Plateau in Forécariah Prefecture in Guinea, West Africa. Molecular sequence data show the genus Benna is nested within the tribe Sonerileae but clearly unrelated to the other African Sonerileae genera. The genus is weakly supported as sister to the South American Son...

The Dissochaeta alliance (= subtribe Dissochaetinae) is a group of woody climbing taxa within tribe Dissochaeteae (Melastomataceae) and comprises 90 species mainly distributed in Southeast Asia. The circumscription of the alliance and its genera has been problematic when based on only morphological characters. With a broad sampling of relevant taxa...

The genus Cailliella includes a single species, C. praerupticola, restricted to a sandstone plateau region in Coyah, Dubreka, Forécariah and Kindia Préfectures, Guinea, West Africa. Until its rediscovery in 2016, this species was known only by the type gathering made in 1937. We provide an emended description, photographs of living material, locali...

Glinus is a small genus of Molluginaceae with 8–10 species mostly distributed in the tropics of the World. Its composition and evolutionary relationships were poorly studied. A new molecular phylogeny constructed here using nuclear (ITS) and chloroplast (rbcL, trnK-matK) markers confirmed the monophyly of the genus. Based on ITS analysis, the follo...

Dissotis has long been regarded as the most species-rich genus of African Melastomataceae, yet its diagnostic characters have never been examined in an explicitly phylogenetic context. In a previous study, we recovered a large clade consisting of "Dissotis and allies" but with poorly understood generic limits. Here we present a nearly complete phyl...

Based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence, a new genus of Melastomataceae (Melastomateae), Nothodissotis Veranso-Libalah & G.Kadereit, gen. nov. , is described from Atlantic Central Africa. Nothodissotis is distinguished from other African Melastomateae genera by its calyx-lobes that are notched at apex and asymmetrical (vs. entire and symme...

Aim Using the extremophile genus Anabasis, which includes c. 28 succulent, xerophytic C4 species, and is widely distributed in arid regions of Northern Africa, Arabia, and Asia, we investigate biogeographical relationships between the Irano‐Turanian floristic region (ITfr) and its neighboring regions. We test whether the spread of arid and semi‐ari...

Tropical Africa like other tropical ecosystems, although known for their high diversity and endemism remain insufficiently sampled. Focused based studies especially in species-rich groups are vital to improve our current knowledge of African plant diversity. Although molecular methods have been increasingly used over the past two decades to underst...

Aim African Melastomateae (Melastomataceae) comprise c . 185 species occurring in closed or open habitats throughout sub‐Saharan Africa. We sought to reconstruct biogeographical and habitat history, and shifts in diversification rates of African Melastomateae using a well‐sampled, dated molecular phylogeny. Location Americas, sub‐Saharan Africa, M...

Electronic Supplement to Phylogeny and systematics of African Melastomateae (Melastomataceae)

Abstract book of 23rd Symposium on ‘Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology’ of the German Botanical Society September 8 – 11, 2016 in Munich, Germany. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München & The German Botanical Society

A survey was conducted in Fako Division, Cameroon to establish an inventory and identify plants used by traditional medical practitioners (TMPs) in treating female infertility in humans including the cultural practices surrounding such treatments. Information was gathered through interviews and questionnaire with TMPs based on the focus data collec...

A study was conducted on the ethnobotany of the Acanthceaes in the Mount Cameroon region in the South West Region of Cameroon. An inventory of identified Acanthaceaes used by different individuals and traditional medical practitioners (TMPs) was established from information gathered through interviews, well semi structured questionnaires and data a...