The World Flora Online 2020 project: will Cameroon come up to the expectation?

Abstract

Biodiverse Cameroon has been highlighted as the top country in tropical Africa for plant species diversity per degree square, with a higher diversity than all other West African countries added together, and including two of the top documented centres of plant diversity in Tropical Africa. Despite its reduced taxonomic capacity, with only six active taxonomists a high level of botanical activity in the country has resulted in accomplishments such as the databasing of the YA Herbarium (over 60,000 records), which has an in-country collection coverage of almost 95% of the known plant species that are recorded for Cameroon. Other accomplishments are the Red Data Book of the Flowering Plants of Cameroon, several local checklists and published volumes of the Flore du Cameroun which covers 37% of the country's species. Currently the checklist of Cameroon records 7,850 taxa at species and infraspecific level. Resources are needed to support and heighten the profile of this small botanical community. Already thanks to strong collaboration between Cameroon and renowned botanical institutes of others countries, in particular France and United Kingdom, one hundred and thirteen plant families have been published and would help this country to complete the recording of its biodiversity towards contributing to the World Flora Online 2020 project.

Diversity, above-ground biomass, and vegetation patterns in a tropical dry forest in Kimbi-Fungom National Park, Cameroon

“…Cameroon, situated at the juncture of West and Central Africa, holds important extents of Lower Guinean forest [5,6], holding rich biodiversity totaling around 9000 species, 1800 genera, and 230 families of vascular plants [7,8,9]. Cameroon holds three main biomes: dry savanna, moist savanna, and tropical rain forest.…”

“…The dry savanna and moist semi-deciduous forest of Kimbi-Fungom National Park (KFNP), in the northwestern part of the country, are assumed to be relatively species-poor, albeit based on few studies [10,11]. Indeed, fewer than 70 herbarium sheets, representing fewer than 60 plant species/100 km 2 , have been collected from the KFNP area [8,9,12]. Although the vegetation of the Bamenda Highlands has been studied extensively [13,14,15], much remains to be understood regarding forest structure, species composition, species diversity, distribution, and carbon stocks across different vegetation types [10,11].…”

Crude metabolites from endophytic fungi inhabiting Cameroonian Annona muricata inhibit the causative agents of urinary tract infections

“…The Cameroonian biodiversity is rich, with thousands of plant species often used by local populations to treat various infections. In fact, with over 4,000 plant species per degree squared, Cameroon’s plant diversity is higher than that of all other West African countries combined [ 17 ]. Therefore, the long-neglected microbiome of these plants deserves serious attention.…”

Inhibition of prolyl oligopeptidase by flavonoids isolated from the roots of Allexis obanensis (Baker f.) Melch

“…Allexis obanensis (Baker f.) Melch, a species of plant in the Violaceae family is a shrub about 9 m high. It is commonly found in Nigeria and southern Cameroon [12] more precisely in Campo where it is traditionally called "Mont des Elephants", The stem is gray, smooth, with a diameter of between 3 and 6 cm [13]. The leaves of the plant are thin, leathery and have a dark green top, the veins are alternate and the petiole has a sheath at its base.…”

“…In traditional medicine, the barks of Allexis obanensis are used to treat fever and syphilis. The aerial parts are traditionally used in dermatological affections, acne, scarring and in oral hygiene, and orally this plant is indicated as antispasmodic and as antitussive [13], and the methanolic extract of all the different part of Allexis obanensis has presented the inhibition of human prolyl oligopeptidase (POP) [14]. The aim of this study was to elucidate the possible POPs inhibitory effect of two flavonoids isolated from Allexis obanensis.…”