Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Mar 16;12(6):1336.
doi: 10.3390/plants12061336.

Contributions to the Flora of Tropical East Africa

Shenglan Du  1   2 , Miaoxuan Wang  1   2 , Neng Wei  2   3   4 , Geoffrey Mwachala  5 , Guangwan Hu  2   3   4 , Lin Wu  1 , Shengwei Wang  2   3   4 , Qingfeng Wang  2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Contributions to the Flora of Tropical East Africa

Shenglan Du et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Tropical East Africa (TEA) is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots on the planet. Its rich flora diversity and inventory have been clearly recognized after the publication of the last volume of the Flora of Tropical East Africa (FTEA) in 2012. However, many new and newly recorded taxa have been named and documented since the publication of the first volume of FTEA in 1952. In this study, we comprehensively compiled new taxa and new records by reviewing the literature on the taxonomic contributions of vascular plants in TEA from 1952 to 2022. Our list includes 444 new and newly recorded species belonging to 81 families and 218 genera. Among these taxa, 94.59% of the plants are endemic to TEA and 48.42% are herbs. Additionally, members of Rubiaceae and Aloe are the most numerous family and genus respectively. These new taxa are unevenly distributed in TEA, but are found mainly in areas of high species richness, such as coastal, central and western areas of Kenya, central and southeastern Tanzania. This study offers summative assessment of the newly recorded flora inventory in TEA and provides recommendations for future research on plant diversity survey and conservation.

Keywords: conservation; flora; new taxa; plant diversity; tropical East Africa.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of new and newly recorded taxa and endemism of plants in tropical East Africa countries. (A) Number of new and newly recorded taxa in each country; (B) Number of new endemic taxa in each country; (C) Proportions of different endemism in TEA. NS: new species; NR: new records; SE: strictly endemic; NE: near-endemic; NA: non-endemic.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Distribution pattern and kernel density of new and newly recorded taxa in tropical East Africa; (B) Number of new publication. The blue to red line shows the number of new and newly recorded taxa over the past 61 years (1961–2022) in tropical East Africa, the light blue line shows the number of published volume for the Flora of Tropical East Africa from 1952 to 2012; (C) Proportion of the growth habit and life form for the new and newly recorded taxa in tropical East Africa (Protected area data from the World’s protected areas (https://www.protectedplanet.net/en, accessed on 2 November 2022). The dotted line shows the year 2012 when the last volume of the Flora of Tropical East Africa was published. PAs: protected areas; CP: collection point; NT: number of new taxa; NV: number of published volume.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Some noteworthy new and recently discovered taxa found in tropical East Africa by SAJOREC team. (A) Adenia angulosa G.W. Hu & Q.F. Wang, 2017; (B) Cissampelos keniensis Y.D. Zhou & Q.F. Wang, 2017; (C) Euphorbia mbuinzauensis N. Wei, Mwachala, G.W. Hu & Q.F. Wang, 2021; (D) Polystachya danielana G.W. Hu, W.C. Huang & Q.F. Wang, 2019; (E) Nervilia lilacea Jum. & H. Perrier, 2019; (F) Croton kinondoensis G.W. Hu, Ngumbau & Q.F. Wang, 2020; (G) Impatiens pseudoviola Gilg var. alba G.W.Hu & Q.F. Wang, 2017; (H) Premna mwadimei V.M. Ngumbau & G.W. Hu, 2021; (I) Peponium elgonense Neng Wei, G.W.Hu & Q.F. Wang, 2020; (J) Zehneria monocarpa G.W. Hu, V.M. Ngumbau & Q.F. Wang, 2020; (K) Sedum keniense Y.D. Zhou, G.W. Hu & Q.F. Wang, 2016; (L) Zehneria subcoriacea Y.D. Zhou & Q.F. Wang, 2016.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Map of tropical East Africa. (A) Geographical location of tropical East Africa; (B) National composition. The light blue and blue areas on the map indicate high-altitude areas.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Klopper R.R., Gautier L., Chatelain C., Smith G.F., Spichiger R. Floristics of the angiosperm flora of Sub-Saharan Africa: An analysis of the African Plant Checklist and Database. Taxon. 2007;56:201–208.
    1. Myers N., Mittermeier R.A., Mittermeier C.G., da Fonseca G.A.B., Kent J. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature. 2000;403:853–858. doi: 10.1038/35002501. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mutke J., Kier G., Braun G., Schultz C., Barthlott W. Patterns of African vascular plant diversity: A GIS based analysis. Syst. Geogr. Plants. 2001;71:1125. doi: 10.2307/3668744. - DOI
    1. Mutke J., Sommer J.H., Kreft H., Kier G., Barthlott W. Vascular Plant Diversity in a Changing World: Global Centres and Biome—Specific Patterns. In: Zachos F., Habel J., editors. Biodiversity Hotspots. Springer; Berlin, Germany: 2011. pp. 83–96.
    1. Beentje H. Science comes from collaboration and communication: The Flora of Tropical East Africa as an example. Webbia. 2015;70:171–179. doi: 10.1080/00837792.2015.1013244. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources