A phenetic analysis and revision of Guineo-Congolean rain forest taxa of Chlorophytum (Anthericaceae)

Abstract

The taxonomy of rain forest species of the genus Chlorophytum in central and west Africa has to date been difficult to resolve. Plants collected in the Guineo-Congolean plant geographical region deposited in several herbaria formed the basis for a morphometric analysis using Principal Component Analyses and including 16 characters. In total, 166 individuals were included from 461 herbarium collections, from which 57 seeds were scanned to investigate the surface structures. Eight species are recognized, including one with three subspecies and another with three varieties. Four new combinations are proposed (Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Jacques var. bipindense (Engl. & K. Krause) A.D. Poulsen & Nordal, C. comosum (Thunb.) Jacques var. sparsiflorum (Baker) A.D. Poulsen & Nordal, C. lancifolium Baker ssp. cordatum (Engl.) A.D. Poulsen & Nordal, and C. lancifolium Baker ssp. togoense (Engl.) A.D. Poulsen & Nordal), ten new synonyms are introduced and three lectotypes are designated. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London.