THREE NEW SPECIES OF CHASSALIA AND PSYCHOTRIA (RUBIACEAE) FROM CENTRAL AFRICA

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Lachenaud ◽  
D. J. Harris

Three new species of Rubiaceae from Central Africa are described and illustrated. Chassalia lutescens O.Lachenaud & D.J.Harris (widespread from Cameroon to Democratic Republic of Congo) is recognised inter alia by the T-shaped ventral furrow of the seeds and the orange-yellow discoloration of inflorescences in herbarium specimens. Psychotria nodiflora O.Lachenaud & D.J.Harris (Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville and Democratic Republic of Congo), belonging to Psychotria subgen. Psychotria sect. Involucratae, is unique among African species of the genus in having paired axillary inflorescences. Psychotria pteropus O.Lachenaud & D.J.Harris (Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo) belongs to Psychotria subgen. Tetramerae; it is closely related to P. leptophylla Hiern but differs in its narrow corolla tube and globose to ellipsoid fruits.

Author(s):  
Paolo Bonavita ◽  
Augusto Vigna Taglianti

The afrotropical species of the subgenus Microserrullula netolitzky, 1921, of the genus Odontium LeConte, 1848 are here revised. We redescribe the three-known species, Odontium aegyptiacum (Dejean, 1831), O. icterodes (Alluaud, 1933) and O. pogonopsis (Alluaud, 1933), and describe four new species: Odontium australe n. sp. (Kenya, Mozambique, Madagascar, South africa); Odontium basilewskyi n. sp. (Democratic Republic of Congo); Odontium okavangum n. sp. (angola, namibia, Zambia); Odontium clarkei n. sp. (Ethiopia). A key for the identification of the african species of the subgenus Microserrullula is presented.


Author(s):  
Florence Bernault

The article considers a large region comprising Chad, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea.1 From the 1880s onwards, Central Africa was colonized by Spanish, French, German, Belgian, and Portuguese powers. Here Africans generally suffered a harsher kind of rule than in West Africa, as colonialism brought little capital and investments, and imposed brutal forms of extractive economy. Foreign powers, moreover, proved reluctant to dialogue with African elites. Yet, the colonial era was also a moment when Central Africans initiated radical political revolutions and capacious social changes, achieving independence in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout the period under consideration, moreover, important cultural creations in the form of music, popular painting, photography, and fashion became influential in the rest of Africa and beyond.


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Dawson ◽  
Daniel J. Young

Constitutions around Africa have been repeatedly tested on the issue of presidential term limits. We explore the four most recent cases of African presidents facing the end of their constitutionally mandated limit, all of which developed in Central Africa. Burundi, Rwanda, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo all adopted constitutions limiting presidential tenure to two terms; yet, in 2015, when these limits were approaching, none of the sitting presidents simply stood down. Our analysis focuses on the constitutional provisions meant to protect the two-term limit, the strategies employed by each of the four presidents, and the difficulty they faced in pursuing extended tenure. We find that constitutional provisions do constrain, but not always to the expected degree. Our analysis adds a consideration of a foundational constitutional factor to the growing literature on term limits in Africa, with implications for other regions of newly developing democracies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (3980) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie L.J. Stiassny ◽  
S. Elizabeth Alter ◽  
Raoul J.C. Monsembula Iyaba ◽  
Tobit L.D. Liyandja

Author(s):  
Marius Schneider ◽  
Vanessa Ferguson

South Sudan is situated in north-eastern Africa bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Kenya. It is 619,745 square kilometres (km) and has a population of 12.58 million. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, making it the most recently recognized independent country. South Sudan, which is officially known as the Republic of South Sudan, comprises the three former southern provinces of Bahr el Ghazal, Equatoria, and Upper Nile in their boundaries as they stood on 1 January 1956 and the Abyei Area, as defined by the Abyei Arbitration Tribunal Award of July 2009. The capital of South Sudan is Juba.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4722 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-351
Author(s):  
OLAVI KURINA

A comprehensive material of Afrotropical Sciophila including 262 male specimens of 15 species collected from 7 countries are studied. Two new species—S. geiri sp. n. and S. tchabalensis sp. n.—are described from Madagascar and Cameroon, respectively. New records of the following 13 species are presented: S. digitilenta Søli, 1997 (Uganda), S. fenestralis Søli, 1997 (South Africa), S. kakumensis Søli, 1997 (Cameroon, Uganda), S. kjaerandseni Søli, 1997 (Uganda), S. koundensis Søli, 1997 (Uganda), S. leptosoma Søli, 1997 (Democratic Republic of Congo), S. longistyla Søli, 1997 (South Africa), S. mazumbaiensis Søli, 1997 (Uganda), S. ocreata Philippi, 1865 (France: La Réunion), S. papula Søli, 1997 (Democratic Republic of Congo), S. pinniger Søli, 1997 (South Africa, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya), S. quadra Søli, 1997 (Democratic Republic of Congo), S. stellata Søli, 1997 (Uganda). The majority of the new records represent the first ones since initial description of the species. S. ocreata is considered to be introduced to the Island of La Réunion. The number of Afrotropical Sciophila species is set at 23. 


Plant Disease ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clérisse Mubasi Casinga ◽  
Rudolph R Shirima ◽  
N M Mahungu ◽  
W Tata-Hangy ◽  
Kalinga Benoit Bashizi ◽  
...  

Cassava plays a key role in assuring food security and generating income for smallholder farmers throughout central Africa, and particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This status is threatened, however, by cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) which has recently expanded its incidence and range in eastern DRC. The study described here, comprises the first extensive assessment of temporal change in occurrence of CBSD and its causal viruses in DRC, based on surveys conducted during 2016 and 2018. Cassava fields were inspected in Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Tanganyika and Haut-Katanga provinces within eastern DRC, to record foliar incidence and severity of CBSD. Leaf samples were collected for virus detection and species-level identification. New occurrences of CBSD, confirmed by virus diagnostic tests, were recorded in two provinces (Haut-Katanga and Sud-Kivu) and nine previously unaffected territories, covering an area of > 62,000 km2, and at up to 900 km from locations of previously published reports of CBSD in DRC. Overall, average CBSD incidence within fields was 13.2% in 2016 and 16.1% in 2018. In the new spread zone of Haut-Katanga, incidence increased from 1.7% to 15.9%. CBSD is now present in provinces covering 321,000 km2 which is approximately 14% of the total area of DRC. This represents a major expansion of the CBSD epidemic, which was only recorded from one province (Nord-Kivu) in 2012. Both cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) were detected in Ituri, Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu, but only CBSV was detected in Haut-Katanga. Considered overall, these results confirm the increasing threat that CBSD poses to cassava production in DRC and describe an important expansion in the African pandemic of CBSD.


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