The ECAT dataset: expert-validated distribution data of endemic and sub-endemic trees of Central Africa (Dem. Rep. Congo, Rwanda, Burundi).

In this data paper, we present a specimen-based occurrence dataset compiled in the framework of the Conservation of Endemic Central African Trees (ECAT) project with the aim of producing global conservation assessments for the IUCN Red List. The project targets all tree species endemic or sub-endemic to the Central African region comprising the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), Rwanda, and Burundi. The dataset contains 6361 plant collection records with occurrences of 8910 specimens from 337 taxa belonging to 153 genera in 52 families.

Traditional knowledge, use and conservation of plants by the communities of Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya.

Rural communities in Kenya largely depend on plant resources for their livelihood. The utilization of these resources depends on the availability of plant resources and the level of knowledge of the residents. We conducted an ethnobotanical study in Tharaka-Nithi County in Kenya to determine the knowledge and utilization of various plant species by the local communities.

(Cucurbitaceae), an overlooked new species from western Kenyan forests.

, a new species of Cucurbitaceae from western Kenya, is described here, based on morphological and molecular data. It has long been misidentified as the widely-distributed species . However, it differs by its ovate leafy probract at the base of the inflorescences, subglabrous condition of the entire plant, shorter receptacle-tube and filaments, as well as denser and sessile inflorescences.

The complete plastome sequences of five species (Aponogetonaceae): Insights into the structural organization and mutational hotspots.

Members of the aquatic plant genus are widely used commercially in aquariums because of their variable leaf shape and unique inflorescences. However, due to extensive similarity between species in this genus, morphological characters are generally inadequate for taxonomic classification. Currently, molecular makers available for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of are limited.

An annotated checklist of the vascular flora of South and North Nandi Forests, Kenya.

We compiled a checklist of the flora of South and North Nandi forests based on literature, online databases, herbarium collections and floristic field surveys. A combination of general walk-over surveys and plotless landscape sampling for plant collection and sight observation was used. We recorded 628 plant species representing 118 families and 392 genera, which almost double the latest results of the previous most recent survey.

An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Aberdare Ranges Forest, a part of Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot.

The Aberdare Ranges Forest, located in the Central highlands of Kenya, is an isolated volcanic mountain in the East African Rift Valley with unique flora. Despite its refugial importance to rare and endemic plant species, the diversity of plants in the Aberdare Ranges Forest remains poorly understood. The checklist presented here is a collation of data obtained from multiple floristic surveys and from herbarium specimen collections from the forest.

The first report of Jum. & H. Perrier (Orchidaceae, Epidendroideae) from Kenya and the Northern Hemisphere.

is recorded from Kenya as well as the Northern Hemisphere for the first time. A plate of ink drawing and a distribution map are provided based on the new collection.

The complete chloroplast genomes of two species in threatened monocot genus Caldesia in China.

Caldesia is a genus in the family Alismataceae mainly found in the tropical and temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. In China, two species, Caldesia parnassifolia, and Caldesia grandis are recorded as critically endangered in sporadic regions. Available protection of the genetic resource of these threatened species has been impeded due to limited genomic information.

A plastid phylogeny of the fern genus Arachniodes (Dryopteridaceae).

Arachniodes (Dryopteridaceae) is one of the most confusing and controversial fern genera in terms of its circumscription, nomenclature, and taxonomy. Estimates of species number range from 40 to 200. Previous molecular works included only 2-17 accessions representing 2-12 species of Arachniodes and allied genera, leaving most of the Asian species remain unsampled and the infragneric relationships unclear.

Evolutionary diversification of the African achyranthoid clade (Amaranthaceae) in the context of sterile flower evolution and epizoochory.

Background And Aims: Many African genera of the Amaranthaceae exhibit unique inflorescences that include sterile flowers modified to hooks or spines. Considering that the abundance of large terrestrial herbivores increased on the African continent with the expansion of grassland and savannah ecosystems, modified sterile flowers could have been an innovation that boosted the diversification of an African achyranthoid clade of Amaranthaceae, with large animals serving dispersal.

Methods: We generated an extensively sampled phylogeny comprising 26 of the 31 achyranthoid genera as well as representatives of all other lineages of Amaranthaceae.

A global plastid phylogeny of the brake fern genus Pteris (Pteridaceae) and related genera in the Pteridoideae.

The brake fern genus Pteris belongs to the Pteridaceae subfamily Pteridoideae. It contains 200-250 species distributed on all continents except Antarctica, with its highest species diversity in tropical and subtropical regions. The monophyly of Pteris has long been in question because of its great morphological diversity and because of the controversial relationships of the Australian endemic monospecific genus Platyzoma.