Romulea eximia 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 : 96

53. Romulea eximia M.P. de Vos

J. S. African Bot., Suppl. 9: 267 (1972); Fl. S. Africa 7(2), fasc. 2: 67 (1983). — Type: de Vos 1687, South Africa, Western Cape, near Darling (holo-, NBG!) .

Plants 20-40 cm high, stem subterranean; corm pointed at base with straight acuminate teeth. Leaves 3-8, basal, narrowly 4-grooved, 1- 1.5 mm diam.; outer bracts with narrow, hardly visible membranous margins, inner bracts submembranous with wide brownish membranous margins. Flowers pink to deep red with dark blotches around the greenish or pale yellow cup, unscented, tepals oblanceolate, 33-40 mm long; filaments 9-12 mm long, anthers 7-12 mm long. Fruiting peduncles remaining erect or slightly spreading. Flowering: Aug.-Sep. — Fig. 2E .

Romulea eximia occurs on sandy and granitic flats along the west coast of Western Cape Province, extending from Langebaan in the north to Melkbos Strand in the south. It is closely related to R. cruciata and is distinguished by the larger, bright red to pink flowers, usually with a cream or greenish cup with tepals 33-40 mm long. Typical R. cruciata has purple-magenta flowers with a deep yellow cup and smaller tepals rarely exceeding 30 mm in length. Anatomically R. eximia is distinctive in having a lignified epidermis and a continuous subepidermal layer of sclerenchyma across the leaf ribs. Both these features are lacking in R. cruciata . Populations from granite outcrops in the Vredenburg area are anomalous in having a broader leaf than usual for the species and a deep yellow cup which is more typical of R. cruciata .

Figures

Fig. 2. — Flowers of Romulea species: A, R. tabularis; B, R. saldanhensis; C, R. tortuosa; D, R. sabulosa; E, R. eximia; F, R. sulphurea; G, R. namaquensis; H, R. komsbergensis.