ABSTRACT
Background and aims This paper reports a further discovery of a new endemic threatened species to science in the context of long-term botanical surveys in the lowland coastal forests of Mount Cameroon specifically and generally in the Cross River-Sanaga interval of west-central Africa. These studies focus on species discovery and conservation through the Tropical Important Plant Areas programme.
Methods Normal practices of herbarium taxonomy have been applied to study the material collected. The relevant collections are stored in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London and at the Limbe Botanic Garden, Limbe, and the Institute of Research in Agronomic Development – National Herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
Key results New species to science continue to be discovered from Mt Cameroon. Most of these species are rare, highly localised, and threatened by habitat destruction. These discoveries increase the justification for improved conservation management of surviving habitat. Drypetes njonji is described as an additional species new to science and appears to be endemic to the lowland coastal forests at the foot of Mt Cameroon. It is placed in and keyed out in Sect. Stipulares, a group confined to Lower Guinea. The conservation status of Drypetes njonji is assessed as Endangered (EN B1+2ab(iii)) according to the 2012 criteria of IUCN. An updated overview of the lowland plant endemics of Mt Cameroon is presented.
