identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03D80343EF50884DA4F8DC658EDEF9BA.text	03D80343EF50884DA4F8DC658EDEF9BA.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Haemanthus snijmaniae Mart. - Azorin, M. Pinter, M. B. Crespo, M. A. Alonso & J. L. Villar 2025	<div><p>Haemanthus snijmaniae Mart.-Azorín, M.Pinter, M.B.Crespo, M.Á.Alonso &amp; J.L.Villar, sp. nov. (Figs 1–4).</p><p>Diagnosis:— Haemanthus snijmaniae approaches H. coccineus Linnaeus (1753: 325) and H. graniticus Snijman (1984: 91) in overall morphology but it differs from both by the combination of spreading to prostrate, plane, thin textured, dull green or glaucous, immaculate, glabrous leaves; bracts thin textured and mostly not overlapping from base; scape to 15 cm long; inflorescence with 9–20 flowers; pedicles 1–7 mm long; perigone tube only slightly widening upwards, not gibbose at tepal base and its disjunct occurrence in arid inselbergs in northern Bushmanland, north-western South Africa.</p><p>Type:— SOUTH AFRICA. Northern Cape Province. Gamoep (2918): Naib se Berge, 25 August 2024 ex hort. at University of Alicante, Spain, M. Martínez-Azorín, M.B. Crespo, M.Á. Alonso, J.L. Villar &amp; M. Pinter MMA2047 (GRA holotype; ABH isotype) .</p><p>Plants deciduous, green in winter, up to 20 cm high when flowering. Bulb solitary or producing few offsets, ovoid to slightly elongate-ovoid, slightly compressed crosswise, 2.5–3.5 cm diam., tunics imbricate, distichous, thick, white to cream-coloured, margins oblique, withered and brown, covered with numerous dry, brown layers. Leaves mostly hysteranthous, (1–)2, spreading or prostrate, blade oblong-lanceolate to ovate-elliptical, 8–20 × 2–7 cm, plane, thin textured, not fleshy, adaxial surface dull green or glaucous, immaculate, glabrous, abaxial surface pale green or glaucous, immaculate or rarely with minute purple speckles in the lowermost portion, glabrous, margin smooth, only very slightly revolute, apex obtuse to acute. Scape stout, 3–15 × 0.6–0.8 cm, pale red, plain coloured, glabrous, flattened. Spathe bracts 4–6, erect, not overlapping or rarely only at base, slightly overtopping flower tepals, irregular, from oblong-lanceolate to obovate-spathulate, 25–35 × 7–14 mm, pale scarlet, stiff, thin textured, entire, glabrous, acute to obtuse. Inflorescence compact, campanulate to obconical and ± compressed, 25–45 mm diam. Flowers 9–20, suberect; pedicel 1–7 mm long, reddish; perigone 18–23 mm long, pale scarlet with white tepal tips; tube 3.0– 3.5 mm long, cylindrical or only very slightly widening upwards, not gibbose at tepal base; free portion of tepals erect, linear to narrowly oblong and slightly widening and subcucullate distally, 16–20 × 0.8–1.5 mm, tips obtuse, cucullate. Stamens exserted by up to 10–12 mm; filaments 25–31 × 0.7–0.8 mm, filiform and tapering, terete, pale scarlet, turning to white along the exerted portion; anthers ca. 1.5 mm long after dehiscence, with yellow pollen. Ovary widely ovate to globose, 2.0–2.5 × 1.9–2.5 mm, pale green, with ca. 3 ovules. Style filiform, tapering to a punctiform stigma, 27–30 × 0.6–0.7 mm, slightly shorter than stamens, pale scarlet, turning to white distally. Berry ± ovoid, soft and pulpy, 12–18 mm diam., cream coloured, becoming translucent. Seeds 1–3 per berry, ovoid, 8–10 mm diam., greenish to reddish.</p><p>Eponymy:—The specific epithet, snijmaniae, honours Dr. Deirdré “Dee” Anne Snijman, the world authority in Haemanthus, who recently published a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the genus (Snijman 2025). There, she drew attention to the existence of an incompletely known taxon provisionally referred to as ‘The east Gariep Haemanthus ’ occurring on Groot Pellaberg and Ghaamsberg (Snijman 2025: 154), which we consider here conspecific to H. snijmaniae based on their morphological description and similar habitats.</p><p>Phenology, biology, and cultivation: — Haemanthus snijmaniae produces leaves around August at its type locality in the Naib se Berge (Figs 1, 2) and flowers around March, when leaves are mostly withered, although the species will probably adapt to the scarce and uneven rainfall patterns of the region. Flowers in cultivation at the University of Alicante, Spain (Figs 3, 4) appear in late summer when leaves are completely withered for about 5 months and watering has been restricted; fruits and seeds are set around mid-September, within 5 weeks post-anthesis. No discernible scent has been recorded in the species. Further research is needed to record its biology in the wild.</p><p>In a frost-free greenhouse, this species grows easily in a well-drained, inorganic substrate, such as a mixture of pumice (1–5 mm) and sand. Plants must be first watered in late summer after dormancy, flowering beginning about two weeks later. The next watering is not carried out until the leaves appear. Depending on the climate in the greenhouse, watering must take place approximately every two weeks throughout the fall/winter/spring and plants should monthly receive a low concentration of a balanced fertiliser. As temperatures rise in spring, the leaves begin to turn yellow and dry out. From this point on, water is stopped until late summer and the plants become dormant. The most common pests are thrips and mealybugs. If the culture is too wet, root rot caused by harmful fungi can occur.</p><p>Habitat: — Haemanthus snijmaniae grows in crevices and shallow soils on rock pockets derived from quartzite rocks in shaded south facing cliffs and gorges at elevations of about 1000 m (Fig. 1), and share their habitat with various bulbous species in Hyacinthaceae, including Whiteheadia bifolia (Jacquin 1791: 215) Baker (1873: 226), Eliokarmos leeupoortensis (Müller-Doblies &amp; Müller-Doblies 1996: 396) Mart.-Azorín, M.B.Crespo &amp; Juan in Martínez-Azorín et al. (2011: 29), and Triandra pellabergensis Mart.-Azorín, M.B.Crespo, M.A.Alonso, N.R.Crouch &amp; M.Pinter in Martínez-Azorín et al. (2021: 68).</p><p>Other probable populations of Haemanthus snijmaniae were cited by Snijman (2025: 154) [under the provisional working-name ‘The east Gariep Haemanthus ’] to occur on Groot Pellaberg and Ghaamsberg, which share the habitat and general morphology of the species here described from Naib se Berge. The elevation range of H. snijmaniae is from 500 to 1000 m. The Ghaamsberg population reportedly inhabits seepages, protected by rock overhangs, and grows together with mosses and liverworts (Snijman 2025), which fits the habitat at the type locality. The precipitation in the area is usually less than 100 mm annually and concentrates around February and April, with extra moisture obtained from clouds from the west (Desmet 2000).</p><p>Distribution:—We only know of two subpopulations that comprise ca. 100 individuals of H. snijmaniae in the Naib se Berge. No detailed locality data from specimens or field observations are given. This is justified by the fact that illegal collecting of certain range-restricted geophytes from the wild in southern Africa is a severe and escalating problem (Smith et al. 2023).</p><p>Naib se Berge is part of a group of isolated inselbergs in northern Bushmanland, within the east Gariep Centre of Endemism, in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa (Jürgens 1991, 1997; Van Wyk &amp; Smith 2001). Snijman (2025) cited four herbarium specimens at NBG that fit H. snijmaniae in morphology (Desmet 2499, 3066; Van Jaarsveld 6654, and Van Jaarsveld &amp; Kritzinger 8062) occurring on Groot Pellaberg and Ghaamsberg. Based on the morphological characterisation provided by Snijman (2025) of the so-called ‘The east Gariep Haemanthus ’ and their similar habitat and distribution, we provisionally conclude that those populations belong to H. snijmaniae, and therefore the species is confined to the mountains of northern Bushmanland (Fig. 5). Further studies are required to ascertain its actual distribution range, and possible threats (e.g., illegal collecting) and conservation assessment.</p><p>Diagnostic characters and taxonomic relationships:— Haemanthus snijmaniae resembles H. coccineus (Fig. 6) and H. graniticus in their general morphology, but the new species differs in several morphological characters, habitat, and distribution (Snijman 2025).</p><p>From a vegetative point of view, the new species is keyed out in Snijman (2025) to H. amarylloides Jacquin (1804: t. 408) or H. graniticus based on the immaculate, broad leaves, or H. coccineus, when one considers its immaculate forms. However, the new species differs in the combination of its plane, thin textured, dull green or glaucous, immaculate, glabrous leaves together with its reproductive characters. In Haemanthus amarylloides, three subspecies are recognised, among them, H. amarylloides subsp. polyanthus Snijman (1982: 99) from the northern regions of Namaqualand, which is relatively close to the type locality of the new species. However, the three subspecies of H. amarylloides are characterised by their shorter perigone with spreading free tepal portions, clearly differing from H. snijmaniae . Most notably, both H. graniticus and H. amarylloides subsp. polyanthus produce erect, lanceolate, shiny green leaves, not approaching H. snijmaniae . Leaf morphology in H. coccineus is considered very variable, from suberect to spreading, immaculate or barred with distinct markings, glabrous, pubescent or ciliate, but in all forms, they have been described as fleshy (Snijman 2025), a character not seen in H. snijmaniae .</p><p>From a reproductive point of view, the new species is keyed out to H. graniticus or H. canaliculatus Levyns (1966: 75) based on the perigone tube being only slightly swollen below each tepal, with tepals not nipped-in proximally, and the red inflorescence presenting somewhat acuminate bracts. With pedicels much shorter than the perigone, the new taxon approaches H. canaliculatus . However, the latter species differs in its narrowly ligulate, deeply channelled, succulent, shiny green leaves, barred darker green and reddish towards their base, and the free portion of their tepals spreading and standing slightly apart, among other characters. Haemanthus graniticus differs from the new species in its longer scape (up to 24 cm long), longer pedicels (7–14 mm long), and more numerous flowers (15–70), aside from its disjunct distribution in the wettest areas of Namaqualand southwest of Springbok and on the Kamiesberg mountains. The habitat of H. graniticus is accordingly very different, for it occurs scattered in fine alluvium within rock crevices and along the edges of seasonal watercourses adjacent to granite-gneiss domes, where the bulbs may become submerged for short periods during winter (Snijman 2025).</p><p>Regarding the widely spread and variable H. coccineus, it differs from the new species in its fleshy leaves, and fleshy bracts, which is distinctly imbricate at their base, in its more numerous flowers (20–100), shorter tepal tubes (2–5 mm long) that widen upwards, being gibbose at the base of each tepal (Fig. 6).</p><p>Additional material studied (paratypes):— SOUTH AFRICA. Northern Cape Province. Gamoep (2918): Naib se Berge, 20 August 2022 (vegetative, wild collection), M. Martínez-Azorín, M.B. Crespo, M.Á. Alonso, J.L. Villar &amp; M. Pinter MMA2047 (ABH) ; Northern Cape Province. Gamoep (2918): Naib se Berge, 28 August 2023 (in flower ex hort. at University of Alicante, Spain), M. Martínez-Azorín, M.B. Crespo, M.Á. Alonso, J.L. Villar &amp; M. Pinter MMA2047 (ABH, GRA) .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D80343EF50884DA4F8DC658EDEF9BA	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Martínez-Azorín, Mario;Pinter, Michael;Crespo, Manuel B.;Alonso-Vargas, María Ángeles;Villar, José Luis;Human, Dawie J.;Kleeberger, Bernhard	Martínez-Azorín, Mario, Pinter, Michael, Crespo, Manuel B., Alonso-Vargas, María Ángeles, Villar, José Luis, Human, Dawie J., Kleeberger, Bernhard (2025): Haemanthus snijmaniae (Amaryllidaceae), a new species from the arid regions in northwestern South Africa. Phytotaxa 728 (2): 175-184, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.7, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.728.2.7
