Euryops bertilii J.H.J.Vlok, 2020

Vlok, J. H. J., 2020, Three new species and one new subspecies of Euryops (Asteraceae: Senecioneae) from the Klein Karoo in the Western Cape Province, South Africa., South African Journal of Botany 133, pp. 167-173 : 169

3.2. Euryops bertilii J.H.J.Vlok , sp. nov

Euryops vlokii B.Nord . ms. ( Manning and Goldblatt, 2012)

Type: South Africa, Western Cape Province, Ladismith (3320): Anysberg Nature Reserve, about 2 km south of old Allemorgensfontein railway station, (-CB), 650 m, 8 July 2006, Vlok & Schutte 550 ( NBG holo.; S, iso) .

Densely branched shrublet up to 30 cm tall (50 cm when flowering, due to the long peduncles); young branches densely leafy, older branches covered with almost cork-like remnants of leaf bases. Leaves erect, with tips spreading, 10—20 X 3—6 mm, mostly simple, occasionally with up to five uneven lobes 2—4 x ca. 2 mm, obtuse to acuminate, glabrous, with small woolly tuft in axil of leaf bases, glaucous-green. Peduncles lateral in upper leaf axils, 120—200 mm long, terete, ca. 1 mm thick. Involucre hemispherical to widely cup-shaped, 7—12 mm diam. Involucral bracts uniseriate, 10 to 12, glabrous, free to base, lanceolate, 6—7 X 2—3 mm wide, 3-veined, purplish in distal half with paler membranous margin, acuminatepenicillate. Ray fl orets 10; corolla yellow, tube cylindrical, 2 mm long, lamina oblong, 8—10 mm long, 4-veined; style branches erect, spreading, 1 mm long. Disc fl orets ca. 60; corolla yellow, 4 mm long; tube cylindrical, 2 mm long; limb campanulate, 2 mm long with triangular-acute lobes. Anthers 2 mm long with ovate appendage. Style terete, branches spreading, ca. 1 mm long, papillate at the tip. Pappus bristles white, numerous, 2 mm long. Mature achenes not seen, ovaries of ray-and disc-florets papillate. ( Plate 2 ).

Flowering period: July Distribution and ecology: Euryops bertilii is known only from the Ladismith district where it occurs in Succulent Karoo vegetation, more specifically in the Western Little Karoo unit sensu Mucina and Rutherford (2006). At a finer scale Vlok and Schutte-Vlok (2015) described this vegetation as Kalkveld, a vegetation unit that is restricted to large outcrops of calcrete with very little topsoil.

Diagnosis: Euryops bertilii belongs to the sect. Angustifoliae as pappus bristles are present on the ray and disc florets and the peduncles are axillary on the stems. It is most similar to E. namaquensis Schltr. and E. cuneatus B.Nord. , but differs in the involucral bracts that are free to the base and the leaves that are not 3-partite, with most leaves simple and only some basal leaves with up to five unevenly sized lobes (involucral bracts basally connate for a third to half their length in E. namaquensis and leaves apically 3-lobed and lateral leaf lobes often forking in E. cuneatus ). E. namaquensis is restricted to Namaqualand and E. cuneatus occurs from Calvinia southwards to Laingsburg.

Conservation notes: The species is known only from the type locality, where it occurs occasionally in an area of about 150 ha ( Fig. 3 ). The plants were very heavily browsed by domestic stock previously, but have recovered well since the property was included in the Anysberg Nature Reserve in 2000. Following Raimondo et al. (2009), I propose a conservation status of Endangered ( C2 (a) (ii)) for this species.

Etymology: The species is named for Prof. Bertil Nordenstam (born 20th February 1936, Sweden) to honour his work on the genus Euryops and his other contributions to the flora of South Africa.

3.2.1. Changes to species key

This species can be accommodated in the existing key to sect. Angustifoliae ( Nordenstam, 1968: 38) by changing couplet 66 to the following:

(i) Involucral bracts free to base; leaves simple or unevenly lobed... E. bertilii

(ii) Involucral bracts not as above.. ... ... ... ... ... ... .. continue with existing key.

Figures

Plate 2. Euryops bertilii, typical plant at type locality.Photo:J.Vlok.

Fig. 3. Distribution of Euryops dasyphyllus (Z), E.bertilii (*), E.diosmiphyllus (Δ) and E.subcarnosus subsp.fallax (•). Graphics: A.Schutte-Vlok.