266-299 - SABONET

Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979); Mwanda Mt., 2000, Winter 4159 (MAL).
Lippia javanica (Burm.f.) Spreng.
Lippia whytei Mold.
Chichewa: chanzi, vumba; Yao: chisunganjeu, mchenjema
Shrub to 4 m tall, softly woody; leaves strongly aromatic and slightly unpleasant,
opposite or in whorls of 3, 10–100 x 3–45 mm, scabrid and
rugulose (rough) above, serrulate; flowers in a small compact spike, white
to yellowish green; in woodland, scrubby grassland, rocky hillsides; 450–
2,350 m. Widespread in Africa, from South Africa to Angola and Ethiopia.
Not in Asia, despite the species name, which was applied erroneously.
Source. F.T.E.A. Verbenaceae: 30 (1992).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979).
Lippia plicata Baker
Lippia strobiliformis Mold.
Woody herb or shrub 0.6–3 m, stems square, brown to reddish purple;
leaves aromatic (minty), opposite, rarely in threes, ovate to lanceolate, 15–
100 x 7–55 mm, harshly scabrid above, margins crenate-serrate; flowers in
Rinorea convallarioides (Baker f.) Eyles
Understorey shrub or small tree 1.5–7 m tall; leaves simple, alternate, oblong-elliptic,
40–70 x 15–40 mm, sharply serrate or subentire, hairless except
on main veins, petiole 2–4 mm long, channelled above, stipules 3–
4 mm long; flowers axillary; fruit a 3-sided capsule to 13 mm long; in evergreen
forest; only in submontane forest (below 2,000 m) on the eastern
escarpment, but not recorded by Dowsett-Lemaire (1985). Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, and Malawi.
Source. Chapman & White (1970: 126).
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, “eastern escarpment Forests”, no specimen located.
Viscum combreticola Engl.
Relatively large dioecious leafless parasitic shrubs, more or less pendulous
with age, yellowish green, stems flattened and strongly ribbed, but round
with age; berries stalkless, more or less round, 6–7 mm long, warty when
young, almost smooth at maturity, orange; a parasite of various hosts,
but commonly on Combretum and various legumes, including
Brachystegia. Widespread from D.R.C. and Kenya to Angola and South
Africa.
Source. Mill (1979); Polhill & Wiens (1998: 303).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chisanga Falls, 1,800 m, 1982, Dowsett-
Lemaire 307 (K); Chisanga Falls, 1,800 m, 1986, R.M. Polhill & D. Polhill
5254 (K, MAL).
Viscum cylindricum Polhill & Wiens.
Leafless, dioecious, parasitic shrub with pendulous branches up to 1–2 m
long, distal branches flattened, 2–4 mm broad; flowers sessile, single, style
indistinct, stigma on elevated mound above tepal scars, berries sessile, oblong,
7–3.5 mm; in forest and high-rainfall Brachystegia woodland on various
hosts. Only known from Malawi.
Source. Polhill & Wiens (1998: 303); Polhill (2001: 593, fig. 211G).
Malawi. Nyika Plateau, 7 km W. of Chelinda, 1972, Wiens 4614 (K, UT);
Nyika National Park, 6.5 km W. of Livingstonia junction, Nya Mkowa,
2,000 m, 1978, Pawek 13846 (BR, K, MAL, MO, WAG).
Viscum goetzei Engl.
Leafless dioecious parasite with flattened stems narrowing to the nodes;
berries with a 1 mm long stalk, 3 mm long, smooth, orange; a parasite
(epiparasite) of Loranthaceae, in evergreen forests to 2,350 m. Southern
Highlands of Tanzania, Nyika Plateau, and Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.
Source. Polhill & Wiens (1998: 302); Polhill (2001: 593, fig. 211J, K).
VIOLACEAE
VISCACEAE
roundish terminal clusters, white/yellow to pink or lilac, scented; in grassland
and various types of woodland, often in disturbed areas; 450–1,950 m.
Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, D.R.C., and Tanzania.
Source. Brummitt (1973); F.T.E.A. Verbenaceae: 34 (1992).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, N.W. foot of Nganda, 1972, Brummitt &
Synge 47 (K, MAL, SRGH, FHO, LISC); W. of Vitinthiza Hill, 2000, Salubeni
& Mwanyambo 6763 & 6806 (MAL).
Lippia woodii Mold.
Lippia africana Mold. var. villosa Mold.; Lippia wilmsii Pearson var.
villosa (Mold.) Mold.
Herb or shrublet 150–600 mm tall, with several unbranched stems; leaves
strongly aromatic, opposite, obovate-elliptic to rhomboid, 10–80 x 10–
30 mm, shallowly crenulate, rugose/bullate, silvery hairy below, sparsely
hairy above; flowers in axillary clusters, white, green or yellow, usually
with an orange centre; in open woodland or grassland subjected to frequent
burning; 1,110–2,280 m. Zimbabwe and Mozambique northwards
to Uganda.
Source. F.T.E.A. Verbenaceae: 33 (1992).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979).
Viola abyssinica Steud. ex Oliv.
Chichewa: katongolola
Perennial herb, stems to 600 mm long, trailing or creeping, rooting at nodes,
angular or winged; leaves broadly ovate to roundish, base cordate, margins
crenate-dentate; flowers single, axillary, on pedicels 10–40 mm long,
white to bluish or violet; in moist grassland, moist areas in forest or forest
margins; 1,200–2,520 m. Widespread in the mountains of tropical Africa.
Source. Flora zambesiaca 1(1): 258 (1960).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality, 1946, Brass 17323 (BM, K,
PRE, SRGH); Mpopoti, 2000, Mwanyambo 542 (MAL).
Zambia. Nyika Plateau, near Rest House, 1958, Robson 395 (BM, K, SRGH).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, vicinity of Juniper Forest, 2,190 m, 1972,
Wiens 4612 (K, MO, P).
Viscum loranthicola Polhill & Wiens
Small, leafless, densely branched parasitic shrub, distal internodes rounded
to slightly flattened; flowers sessile, male flowers with anthers fused together;
berries orange, sessile, round, smooth, 3 mm diameter; epiparasite
on several genera of Loranthaceae. Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and northern
Malawi.
Source. Polhill & Wiens (1998: 297);
Malawi. Rumphi-Chisenga Road, half a km S. of Nyika Road junction,
1,500 m, 1972, Wiens 4607 (K, MAL, MO, UT); 16 km E. of Barrier, 1,650 m,
1976, Phillips 1338 (K, MO, SRGH, WAG).
Viscum shirense Sprague
Viscum junodii Engl., nom. nud.
Leafless dioecious parasite, pendulous with age, stems flattened; berries
with a stalk of 1–1.5 mm, round to ellipsoid, 3–5 mm long, smooth, orange;
a parasite of various hosts, commonly on Bridelia, in high rainfall
woodland, riverine forest, and on margins of montane forest; up to 1,700 m.
D.R.C., Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The
citations given below might be misidentifications for allied species, but V.
shirense is certainly recorded from near Chisenga on the Chambo R. and
around Wenya. Furthermore, the closely similar V. congdonii Polhill &
Wiens, known from Jembya Forest Reserve, is likely to occur. Differences
are given in the sources cited above.
Source. Polhill & Wiens (1998: 306); Polhill (2001: 595).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Kasyaula & Zovochipolo Forests (Dowsett-
Lemaire 1985).
Zambia. Nyika National Park, Manyenjere, Kasoma & Chowo Forests
(Dowsett-Lemaire 1985).
Plants of the Nyika Plateau
283
VISCACEAE