@article {87, title = {Guinea yam (Dioscorea spp., Dioscoreaceae) wild relatives identified using whole plastome phylogenetic analyses. }, year = {2018}, abstract = {

The genus Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae) contains several economically important species for human consumption,
medical and pharmaceutical uses. The phylogeny of this genus is not yet fully resolved. As a result, the relationships between
cultivated yams and their wild relatives are not well understood and this negatively affects the understanding of the evolution
of cultivated yams. Here, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of the main African cultivated species with all West
African species in order to better circumscribe the crop wild relatives of African yams. Complete plastomes of 57 individuals
representing all 17 known Dioscorea species from West Africa were reconstructed. Tree topologies generated using maximum
parsimony and maximum likelihood approaches were highly congruent. Six monophyletic groups were obtained. All the
species were distinct except within the cultivated clade, where it was not possible to separate the two main cultivated species
(D. cayenensis, D. rotundata) from their closest West African wild relatives (D. abyssinica, D. praehensilis, D. sagittifolia).
Dioscorea baya formed a monophyletic group closely related to the cultivated clade. We therefore suggest it is included within
the yam crop\–wild relative complex.

}, doi = {doi.org/10.12705/675.4}, author = {acqueline Magw{\'e}-Tindo and J, Jan J. Wieringa and Bonaventure Sonk{\'e} and Louis Zapfack and Yves Vigouroux and Thomas L.P. Couvreur and Nora Scarcelli} } @article {86, title = {Two new species of Raphia (Palmae/Arecaceae) from Cameroon and Gabon}, journal = {PhytoKeys}, volume = {111}, year = {2018}, pages = {17-30}, chapter = {17}, abstract = {

Raphia (Arecaceae, Calamoideae) is the most diverse genus of African palms with around 20 species.
Two new species from Cameroon and Gabon, Raphia gabonica Mogue, Sonk\é \& Couvreur, sp. nov. and
Raphia zamiana Mogue, Sonk\é \& Couvreur, sp. nov. are described and illustrated. Their affinities are
discussed and the conservation status of each species is assessed. For both species, distribution maps are
provided. Raphia gabonica is restricted to two small populations from central Gabon, where it occurs on
hillsides on tierra firme soil, and close to small streams. Its preliminary IUCN status is Endangered, being
amongst the five most threatened palm species in Africa. Raphia gabonica potentially belongs to the moniliform
section. Raphia zamiana is largely distributed from south Cameroon to south Gabon and is very
common. It is also a multi-used palm, from which wine, grubs and construction material are extracted and
sold. It generally occurs in large stands in a wide range of ecosystems such as swamps, coastal forests on
partially inundated sandy soils and inundated savannahs. Its large stature, hard to access habitat (swamps)
and abundant presence might have discouraged botanists to collect it until now. Raphia zamiana belongs
to the taxonomically complex raphiate section.

}, doi = {doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.111.27175 http://phytokeys.pensoft.net}, author = {Suzanne Mogue Kamga and Raoul Niangadouma and Fred W. Stauffer and Bonaventure Sonk{\'e} and Thomas L.P. Couvreur} }