Romulea membranacea M.P. de Vos

Manning, John C. & Goldblatt, Peter, 2001, the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra including new species, biological notes, and a new infrageneric classification, Adansonia (3) 23 (1), pp. 59-108 : 97

55. Romulea membranacea M.P. de Vos

J. S. African Bot., Suppl. 9: 227 (1972); Fl. S. Africa 7(2), fasc. 2: 59 (1983). — Type: Salter 3488, South Africa, Northern Cape, Elandsfontein , 29 km NW of Middelpos (holo-, BOL!; iso-, BM, K!) .

Plants 7-12 cm high, stem subterranean; corm pointed at base with straight acuminate teeth. Leaves 3-8, basal, narrowly 4-grooved; outer bracts submembranous with wide brown-speckled membranous margins, inner bracts with wide brown-speckled membranous margins. Flowers deep yellow with dark lines in the cup, unscented, tepals oblanceolate, 15-25 mm long; filaments 5-6 mm long, anthers 3-4 mm long. Fruiting peduncles strongly recurved. Flowering: July-Aug.

The rarely seen Romulea membranacea is known from just four collections in the western Karoo. The type is from near Middelpos but more recent collections south of Nieuwoudtville on the road to Botterkloof near Lokenberg significantly expand the range of the species. Another population at the foot of the Komsberg Pass near Sutherland, for which there is only a sight record requiring confirmation, probably also represents this species. Romulea membranacea grows in stony ground in shallow sandy soil. It is distinguished in section Cruciatae by its yellow flowers and by the outer bracts with broad, brown-speckled membranous margins. The latter character, along with the curved fruiting peduncles, led DE VOS to include the species in series Atrandrae despite the differences in the corm but both characters also occur elsewhere in the genus.

ADDITIONAL SPECIMENS EXAMINED. — SOUTH AFRICA. Northern Cape:3119 (Calvinia) road from Nieuwoudtville to Botterkloof Pass, at foothills of Poort se Koppe ( AC) , van Wyk 1450, 12 Aug. 1983 ( NBG) ; drift past Lokenburg turnoff on Nieuwoudtville-Botterkloof road, Manning 2182, 26 July 1998 ( NBG) ; farm Menzieskraal, south of Lokenburg , Goldblatt & Manning 10938, 4 Aug. 1998 ( MO, NBG) .

— Ser. TUBIFORMES