Pteridophytes of Upper Katanga (Democratic Republic of Congo)

1 Pages·2002·0.45 MB·English

by  James D Montgomery

—
American Fern
Journal 92(3):247 (2002)
Review
Upper
Pteridophjtes of Katanga (Democratic Republic of Congo), by
Jan
Anna
Kornas, Medwecka-Kornas, Francois Malaisse and Malgorzata Matjasz-
kiewicz. 2000. Botanical Papers 35, Institute of Botany Jagiellonian Univer-
Kracow,
Poland.
sity,
Upper which
This standard pteridophyte covers the Katanga,
fairly flora
is
the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly
Zaire).
The area bordered by Tanzania, Zambia and Angola in central Africa. The
is
w^ork the outgrowth of collections by two Belgian botanists in Katanga as
is
many
identified by the Polish pteridologist Jan Kornas, author of articles on
Anna
African The Daoer was comnleted bv Medwecka-Kornas
ferns. after
the death of Dr. Kornas in 1994.
The book
180-page includes a description of the area (climate, geology,
soils and vegetation), a of species by family and genus (alphabetically],
list
distribution maps, and remarks on the pteridophyte The description of
flora.
vegetation types brief but complete, with correlation to soils and climate.
is
There are, unfortunately, no keys or descriptions for the species; however,
each abundance, herbarium and
for species, distribution, relative citations
Taxonomic some where
habit are given. notes are useful for species there are
questions problems.
or
The work taxonomic compo-
final section of the a brief discussion of the
is
The
sition of the Pteridophytes to adjacent regions of Africa. flora includes
183 species in 60 genera. Asplenium the largest (27 species), as expected
is
and
by
in this part of the world, followed Thelypteris (12), Selaginella (11),
Pteris and Tricbomanes each). Although some species are relatively com-
(9
mon, more have been found only one two
than 50 species at or stations.
some
Katanga has a richer pteridophyte flora than other adjacent regions, but
The
not as rich as tropical East Africa. publication of this flora is important
may
because the destruction of forests and political unrest in the region
prevent gathering of additional information in the near future. ^James D.
PA
Salem
Montgomery, Ecology 804 Blvd., Berwick, 18603.
Inc.,
III,